The Highest Bidder II
by WerewolfObsession
Summary: In a second testimony of her trial, telekinetic Mura Lynn narrates the journey from being a soldier to becoming a fugitive, and how she came to be an ally of the Avatar.
1. My Second Testimony

A/N: _This is the sequel for the _Higher Bidder.

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter One: My Second Testimony

My name is Mura Lynn, and I'm accused of treason against the four Nations; obstruction of justice against the four Nations; and I'm a suspect in several homicides. To review, the reason why this is all read aloud from a representative is that it's been voted that I am too dangerous to give my testimony to the public, as history has shown that I possess incredible power that has spiraled out of control when I have become angry or self-righteous.

I am the only telekinetic in the world, and one of the few mortals who is touched by a spirit. I am the spiritual link between Shen Si Ling, the Mind Spirit, who governs the purity of the mind, body, and soul. And her contributions to my acts are numerous, though vaguely understood.

Although many in the courtroom have seen what has happened, and they know exactly how my story was laid out, I am obliged by oath and for a reach of understanding from my jury to tell every detail as was followed. I am ordered to describe each memory; and, when it necessary, to fill in the plot holes for those who did not participate in the journey with Team Avatar or Zuko and Iroh's trips in the wilderness. Because of my telekinetic prowess, I possess an eidetic memory. Once more, this is not a photographic memory, which can only remember visionary: this is an adept blessing from Shen Si Ling to have the ability to recall sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch.

I remember every word that was spoken to or around me; I can recall the landscapes and the horrors that I had witnessed. I can live my emotions and my turmoil. This is both a blessing and curse, as you have heard from my tale in my last testimony.

Before I begin my second testimony, I want to—once more—set the record straight that my loyalty didn't ever belong to the highest bidder. As I had told you, Zhao had tried to do that, and he failed. Perhaps, it was at the cost of his life; but I suppose we'll never know.

I want my jurors and my peers, and the friends who helped me along the way, to know that I feel no grudge or hate for this trial that has happened. I want it known that I understand the reasons why I have been incarcerated until fate has been decided.

I feel, though, that once you have heard my account, you will know that I did what I had to do in order to save my loved ones; and if you still think that I am a murderer, I will take my punishment with pride and with the thought that I at least was given the chance to defend myself.

I shall begin the second testimony in Chapter Two.


	2. Pamper the Fires

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Two: Pamper the Fires

I suppose I should begin my second testimony with a positive attitude, like how the journey from the North Pole was a huge success; or that even though Zuko and I watched Zhao disappear under the water didn't affect us at all; or perhaps it'd be a better way of beginning this second long tale by describing a particular view of the ocean while we sailed on a stretch of driftwood. Well, I would start out my testimony by saying that everything was as dandy as a lion, but then I would be lying to everyone—and besides, Fire Lord Zuko and General Iroh know that our journey was a rough one. Only a few circumstances were beautiful, and none of them actually occur at this point in time. So I suppose I should continue from where I left off in my last description, the siege of the north and how the three of us managed to sail away from it on a stretch of driftwood.

For those who think that sailing on a raft of a sunken ruin is peaceful, think again. The way to land was wrought with the chance of being slammed into a nasty chunk of rock by the tides; if we weren't going to be…ship-wrecked, I guess…then we were flipped to the chances of being devoured by starving, underwater predators.

I had the blessing of knowing how many creatures were swimming beneath us. This simply informs you that every winking moment that we floated on the surface, I knew that there were monsters below us, lurking in the depths of the oceans, waiting and watching. The odds that a monstrous shark lion waiting literally beneath us as our small _boat_ sailed on the water were probably low, but still, you have to keep in mind that I could detect life beneath us. Remember, I'm capable of spatial sense: I'm able to detect life around me within a few feet; and there is _always_ life in a vast ocean. Needless to say, I barely slept.

We were on that piece of driftwood for about three weeks. Although the sea water left us quenching for more, Zuko, Iroh, and I got by just barely; the salt parched us to the point that we even tried creating our own saliva and try to think that it was water. But really, it's just gathered spit: it neither quenches nor dehydrates you. It just reminds you that you don't have water. The food that was around us, I caught with my telekinesis. Even though I hated coercing gravity against innocent fish that passed by, I enjoyed _not_ dying from starvation. Whatever I caught, Zuko or Iroh charred it with their Firebending. Three weeks on a sea, drinking sea water and living off fish…

It wasn't exactly misery, but I had lived better off my fat of the land when I was marooned on the island beside the Southern Air Temple. It would have been a much better experience if we had ended up on my island; but, alas, I counted the three of us lucky, seeing as how Zuko wasn't killed, and that I was still alive.

Before the Ocean Spirit avenged his fair lady by taking Zhao to his watery grave, the admiral of the Fire Nation had told me that he was going to turn me in to the Fire Lord for treachery; after he killed the Moon Spirit, he had ultimately decided that it would be more gratifying to kill me as well. My life had been spared by Zuko, who avenged his own 'death' by battling Zhao. In the end, I would have killed him; but my strength was nearly taken from me when the Ocean Spirit swept under a bridge and wrapped his large hand around Zhao and brought him under the river. I still think that I could have killed him; and after that, I probably wouldn't have even felt guilty.

Both Iroh and Zuko had seen me at my worst moments. When I become enraged or devastated, my spiritual familiar—the Mind Spirit, Shen Si Ling—takes over my body in order to keep mental peace within me, and I become a portal between the vengeful spirit and the mortal world. I had lost myself when I was under the impression that Prince Zuko had been killed in a bonfire; and I hoarded vengeful fury when I was strangling Zhao.

To review for those who have entered the trial without hearing my first testimony, you should know that I am not physically capable to take down a person. Although I am adept at evasive maneuvering—dodging and all that—I am not quite skilled in the arts of combat. If I am attacked, or if my body and mind are threatened, my powers—or Shen Si Ling—acts on her own accord. I am a natural born telekinetic; I was born to use my powers so that I wouldn't have to fight. My abilities are dependent on my physical, mental, and emotional well-being; which is why Shen Si Ling takes control when I am being physically attacked, or if I become angry or grievous. It's a defense mechanism, implanted in my brain. For years, I believed that my loss of control was the result of anger management: sort of like how Firebenders accidentally let loose steam when they're irritated, or when Waterbenders break ice around them when they become angry. After a few talks with General Iroh, who is a very spiritual man, I've come to understand the Mind Spirit. Because I've learned about her, I've become a bit stronger in keeping her in control, which is only done when I can control my temper.

When I lose my temper, or I feel overly protective, I enter a state where I'm at my most powerful, strongest, and wisest; but I am also unstable. My body reacts to the protection of those that are threatened; and I throw out the right and wrong in order to instinctively make myself safe again. I once became irritated with Zuko on Kyoshi Island, when the fan warriors attacked him and me; and in result, I destroyed their village without even trying. Because I have so much power, I also have quite a few weaknesses. Under pain, my concentration suffers greatly—as Zhao had realized. I carry a chain link- shaped scar on my forehead from where his soldiers tried to contain me in the Fire Temple.

I cannot use my powers unless I'm fully competent. Mental instability, just as the insanity that Azula's state of mind, can terminate my abilities in order to spare those who would be targeted unintentionally; it's a godsend, I suppose, in order to keep the balance.

My powers suffer greatly during an imbalance of life and its spiritual peace: in my last testimony, I described the distinct agony I endured when Zhao destroyed the Moon Spirit. This is partial to the balance, but my connection with Shen Si Ling has strengthened over the course of a year. When the Mind Spirit is highly furious, such as when Zhao discussed with Iroh about killing La, I can feel it. She urges my temper, making me furious; which of course enables her to act through me. She's not exactly easy to tame like Hei Bai; she is a vengeful spirit; but I respect the powers that she gives me in order to allow the abilities I need to protect me. By this comparison, I'm not too different from the Avatar, but at the same time—it's quite unalike.

When we finally reached the shore, we came upon a bath house where there were a few Fire Nation masseurs providing generous service. They were kind and pleasant as they cared for General Iroh, Prince Zuko, and me; they gave us fresh water and an exquisite meal: vegetables and everything—besides fish.

The Fire Nation masseur who nursed me back to health, bathed me, and fed me was especially polite. He apparently recognized me, but I didn't make it hard for him. I have very noticeable long, blonde hair (_and I haven't seen anybody else who has that color) _and the scars on my forehead are an identifier of who I am. When I had been eating, I had also waved a glass of fire whiskey in my direction, which had floated unassisted to the table. He was amazed by the sight.

"I've heard great things about you," said the masseur as he rubbed my feet.

"Is that so?" I asked, setting aside my tray. I didn't ask the details. I had the impression that people from over the world had heard about what happened at the North Pole: the Avatar's destruction of the Fire Navy ships, my screams that followed the death of the Moon Spirit, and my attempt to strangle Zhao—the whole caboodle.

In the next room, General Iroh was being treated for his sore back from lying on stiff boards for the three weeks. Prince Zuko hadn't taken more than what he wanted; he didn't enjoy the luxuries of the spa.

After four years of living on the island in solitude as a fugitive from the Fire Nation, Prince Zuko and his crew had happened upon my humble abode. I had thought that they had arrived in order to arrest me; and when one of the soldiers had spotted me, I had feared for the worst. I took them down easily, but I had underestimated Prince Zuko and General Iroh, who took me down just as expertly as I had their soldiers. I had moved the rocks around the island to make the soldiers believe that there was more of my kind hiding in the trees. Prince Zuko had automatically assumed that I was an Earthbender, and I protested that I wasn't. (This is sort of where I procure my term of endearment for him, which is 'idiot'.) It took General Iroh less than a minute to realize that I was the Fire Nation girl who stole from Zuko's father in order to spare her mother from poverty; but I failed, and in order to avoid punishment from the Fire Lord for grand larceny, I fled.

General Iroh had offered me a board pass, half-persuading me that if I joined them and helped capture the Avatar, it would give Fire Lord Ozai a reason to spare my life, considering that I would have proven my powers to be true and that I was no longer hiding. Zuko only allowed my easement, only because of our history; which, technically, there was none, due to the small—but crucial—fact that during our childhood, I was closest to Azula than any other person.

As the capture for the Avatar would come close and slowly slip away, as everything always did for my dear love, I simply grew attached to him: his ambitious drive and determination were admirable feats, and I loved him for it; but I knew that he wasn't a bad person. Because I loved him for what he was, he started to trust me. At first, we clashed often, and it wasn't because of our personalities. When I had fled the fatherland, Zuko apparently had developed an assumption that I had stolen from his family's treasury out of spite and greed; and that I had left in order to trade the goods for money. During a storm, when we actually confronted the assumption, I set the story straight. And after that, we sort of started a little teenage romance, filled with confusion and irritation, but consumed with devotion and understanding. I knew that he wasn't a bad person, but that he was confused, for he thought that if he captured the Avatar, everything back home would go back to normal.

I shared my opinion with Iroh: Fire Lord Ozai was not a forgiving man, and even if he did come back with the Avatar, what would that prove? However, I told Zuko—after six months of being at sea and working to find the master of all elements—that I would help him in his quest to capture the Avatar. I made it perfectly clear of two things:

My one condition was that I would only be his alliance as long as his quest was to capture the Avatar, but only just. If the Avatar was killed, I was no longer a part of his crew, and I would do my best to help the other nations to take down Fire Lord Ozai.

My second condition, and this was one of the few things that flared various arguments and fights, was that when—and if—the Avatar was captured alive, and Zuko was able to return home, I wasn't coming with him. I believed that if I returned to the Fire Nation, I was still a fugitive in the eyes of the law. If I returned, I would put myself in harm's way, and I wasn't about to do that for the sake of glory, or even honor.

After we were rescued by the kind men who took us in without charge, I realized that Prince Zuko still harbored a desire to capture Aang. Although I sympathized with him—because at several points in our journey, he had become so close—I thought that Zuko had to accept, eventually, that the Avatar was a simple kid and he wasn't going to comply to go the Fire Nation. He would have to understand that his father did _not_ want him back home.

I was troubled by Zuko's inspired goal to resume his hunt for the Avatar. Apparently, my worry had made its way to the surface, for the man who was pampering me stopped for a moment, and simply gazed at me with concern.

"Ma'am," he asked quietly, pulling me out of my reverie, "is everything all right?"

"Oh," I said, a bit startled, "I'm fine. Everything's fine." I realized how high and squeaky my voice had sounded. "I just have a lot on my mind right now. What you're doing is wonderful," I added appreciatively.

"I wish I could do more," he said, resuming his service to my feet. "It's so sad how soldiers are treated these days. Not that I'm saying that we have terrible leaders," he added quickly, "but it's like the Fire Nation doesn't respect its recruits."

"Recruits?"

"Yeah." He looked at me with a slightly perplexed expression, but then his face fell with sudden understanding. His hands withdrew from my feet almost immediately, and he held his palms up as if to surrender. "Oh—oh, I didn't know that you were an officer!"

I smiled.

"It's fine," I chuckled. "I actually get that a lot."

"Well," he said apologetically, "I only assumed that you were a recruit because…well, you're so_ young_!"

"Well, thank you," I said. "I understand where you're coming from; I do look a little beat, don't I?" I touched my cheeks gingerly where Zhao had smacked the bejesus out of me in the Spirit Oasis.

"I'm sure that whoever did it to you certainly got what he deserved," said the man supportively. "It's quite wrong to hit a woman."

"I think it was a thing that was coming for a long time," I admitted. "I wasn't exactly Miss Lady Fancy Fingers." He glanced up at me, confused. "I've got a bit of a silver tongue."

"Well, maybe I should lock it up with the rest of the silverware," he joked charmingly. He bathed my feet in the warm water then stood up.

"Well, you're all squeaky clean. If there's anything more that you want done, I'd be glad to do it for you. It's quite an honor to meet you," he said. He bowed respectively. "It's not every day that I meet such interesting people. Or ones that are attractive…"

He tinged red on the apple of his cheeks, blushing.

"Actually," I said, feeling my face burn embarrassingly, "I'd like to see how my companions are doing."

"The two men who were traveling with you?" he asked.

I nodded in confirmation.

"Right this way, Ma'am."

He offered his hand gentlemanly; I took it, and he led me through the steamy room and out onto the patio. Under a canvas, two other masseurs were treating General Iroh with a back massage.

He had a nice view of a scene of blossoming cherry trees. The bath houses that surrounded us were held up by heavy, metal stilts; it was an engorged patio that was established in the middle of a large river. The river ran under the patio, and it emptied on the edge of a magnificent waterfall. The entire landscape was framed with a forest of the cherry trees, pink with ripe fruit and light, rosy leaves. I did enjoy nature as much as the company of animal life. Obviously.

Prince Zuko was sitting to the side, against the door frame, concealing his face with a hat. The masseur who escorted me smiled, bowed, and exited on my returned salute. I strolled through the patio and sat down in front of Zuko, who looked just as grumpy as he ever did.

Iroh relaxed on the raised cot, emitting a sigh of content as the two attendants tended to his sore body,

"Aaah. This is what I've been missing. Who knew that floating on a piece of driftwood for three works with no food or water; and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver could make one so tense?"

The irony of his statement was so humorous, that I couldn't suppress a chuckle. He was quite the uncle that everyone wanted to have: a simple man who liked the outdoors, enjoyed tea, and had quite a likeable personality. My laugh had given way to Iroh looking up, and he noticed me with a small smile.

"Well, you look well," he complimented approvingly. "You're practically glowing." He looked up to the attendants. "Could you make me look as young as her?"

He smiled cheekily, to the amusement of his masseurs.

I was entertained by his mannerisms, but attention was diverted as I turned to see Zuko's face, so morose and distilled. What bothered me about him was that he seemed to be wallowing in his misery with no way out, and I felt helpless that I couldn't do anything about it. I knew that he would have to face the shame and turmoil that ran inside him; that was the only way that he would stop being angry at himself.

If there was anything that I knew about, it was peace of mind. My abilities depended on it.

"Honey," I said sweetly, scooting beside him, "I think it would help if you ate something. Didn't they treat you?"

"I don't want special treatment," he retorted.

"Zuko, you're not a bad person." I said softly. "You're a very good person to who bad things happen. There's a simple honor in living a simple life."

He frowned at me.

"I haven't decided to live the 'simple' life. Not everything is covered in panda lilies and rainbows, Mura," he said unhappily.

Iroh sat down beside Zuko, looked at him for a moment, and sighed sadly.

"I see. It's the anniversary, isn't it?"

I stared at the both of them, and then mentally slapped myself in the face. I don't have to tell you why when Zuko replied.

"Three years ago today, I was banished," he said dejectedly. "I lost it all. I want it back. I want the Avatar. I want my honor, my throne. I want my father not to think that I'm worthless."

I frowned, but I didn't feel annoyed. I felt as if this entire journey had shown him nothing about the caring of others. If his father cared for him, or thought that he was actually a son, he would take Zuko back come rain or hell fire. Zhao was a fire flake about it, but he was right: if Ozai really wanted Zuko home, he would allow him to return with or without the Avatar.

Although I had nothing kind to say about Iroh's brother, Zuko's uncle tried to feather Zuko's mood. Once I tell you what he said, you'll understand why Zuko didn't feel better.

"I'm sure that he doesn't think you're worthless! Why would he banish you if he didn't care?"

Although his comment was quite…well, ironic…I suppressed a chuckle, due to the fact that irony had its own melodic humor. Zuko frowned, rose to his feet, and walked away. Iroh's face dissolved from exaggerated optimism to small surprise, realizing what he had just said.

"Erg..." he turned to me slightly, "that came out wrong, didn't it?"

Iroh glanced at me sadly. I looked after Zuko's retreating back, feeling about as down as he did.

"Come, Mura. Walk with me. We have a few things to discuss."

We walked off the patio, the both of us dressed in fresh linens that the attendants had provided upon our arrival. Soft, cotton pants and a long sleeve shirt, and a robe that tied around the waist with a sash—the masseurs definitely knew how to make their guests as comfortable as possible. Due to the fact that I was no longer in Fire Nation uniform, I had abandoned the usual appearance that I conformed—instead of tying up my long hair (waist-length), I let it have the luxury of blowing freely in the steady breeze. Feeling as free as my head, I didn't protest to the walk along the river with my favorite officer.

At first, we said nothing; we both enjoyed the simple pleasure of a nature stroll. But I knew what was coming, even if it was postponed.

"I saw what happened to you during the siege of the North Pole," he began casually. When I met his eyes, he already knew that I was expecting this conversation. His voice dropped to seriousness. "I saw Admiral Zhao beat you without an ounce of respect; and I saw what happened to you when he killed the Moon Spirit, how devastated you were."

"I was in agony," I said calmly. "I was helpless, and I was in agony."

"I can understand your feelings of helplessness, Mura. Your powers rely on the natural balance. I know that when the Moon was taken out of the equation, your mind and body suffered strenuously. It literally ached to see you in so much pain; and I thought that you were killed when you screamed. It was frightening."

"But you're not telling me that it was a good thing, are you?" I asked knowingly.

"The Avatar and Shen Si Ling are connected; he's the bridge between both worlds. When he entered the Avatar State, he knew exactly why you were thrashing in agony. His friends thought that Zhao had killed you, and—whether you believe it or not—they tried to help you, but I told them to leave you alone," he said matter-of-factly. "Your state of mind nearly brought you to the breach of insanity, and along with La's death, the Avatar avenged both Shen Si Ling and Tui when he brought the Fire Nation to its knees and wiped out the invaders."

"This is all nice and everything," I muttered, "but why are you talking to me as if I've done something wrong?"

"I _know_ that when you confronted Zhao, you tried to kill him."

I stopped walking and looked at him. Even though I knew that the conversation was going to be about that, I felt shocked for some reason. I think that deep down, I thought he was going accept what I did like all the other times. He stepped in front of me.

"Mura," he began gravely, "I know that Shen Si Ling controls your temper, and you may find it extremely difficult to contain her, especially when you're at your most vulnerable; but you didn't do what you were taught to do. You didn't let go."

I found myself feeling irritated with him.

"He taunted me with Zuko's death," I said through clenched teeth. "He threatened my life; and when I _pleaded_ with him to not hurt the koi fish, he beat me. Even when I was down, he beat me." Even as I spoke, Iroh looked at me with such disappointment that it only spurred me to anger. "_What was I supposed to do, General Iroh?_ Simply _accept_ that I couldn't do anything about it? It's the same thing as doing nothing."

"There is an honor in doing _nothing_, Mura," he said. "You have meditated for hours in order to regain peace of mind, and you have succeeded over and over again. You tried to kill Zhao even after the Ocean Spirit avenged Shen Si Ling's fury. You didn't do it out of her control, Mura; you did it out of personal gain and revenge."

"And I would have _liked_ it too," I snapped.

I didn't even think about it when I said it. Even when I heard the words come out of my mouth, I felt remorse for thinking that it was ever okay to take a life. I also felt that I had become a monster, using my powers simply because I had the upper advantage. Iroh must have sensed my immediate regret, for his tone softened, and he no longer looked so hardened.

"Mura," he said gently, "I know that you feel anger; all of us do. But it is your responsibility to keep your anger under control. Firebenders use their rage and emotion to give them strength. It's unfortunate that yours can destroy you; not just you, but the ones who get in your way. Zhao was a very unkind man; he had no self-control and had little respect for the spirits and the three other elements. But he was human, Mura."

I nodded in understanding.

"When you were in pain," continued Iroh, "I knew that it was because Shen Si Ling was furious. She has established a strong enough link inside you that you can sense the rage. She can make _you_ feel just as empowered and incensed that when you do become devastated, she can channel her energy through your emotions, and thus work through you. She's a spirit, Mura; but not all spirits respect the privacy of one's mind. I suppose it's the luck of the draw that you managed to link to a spirit who takes the law into her own hands—whether or not it can destroy her portal…which is you."

I sighed heavily.

I'm not sure how much this explains my actions of late, but I can tell you that even though I was governed by such a raw being, I still stand by what I did even without her help.

I guess what came next was the visit from Princess Azula; which, as it follows, is when General Iroh and Prince Zuko and I became fugitives of the Fire Nation.


	3. Sorting Out the Liars

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Three: Sorting Out the Liars

When General Iroh and I returned back to our temporary rest house, Zuko was still in a foul mood. Feeling as if we needed to talk by ourselves, I quietly led the crowned prince of the Fire Nation away from the building. Behind us, Iroh smiled at me approvingly as he went off to on his own walk. Zuko frowned at me as I led him to the edge of a river, a mile from the rest house. For a moment, we were quiet; I stood beside him, staring at the flowing river. He seemed to question my reason for bringing him out there; I wasn't sure why I did. I thought that our time alone needed to be spent in silence, if anything. So much had happened all one time. Recuperation was needed. I wondered, deep down, if he had lost his love for me.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

He looked at me as if I had said something more drastic and incredulous, stepping away from me about half a foot. His reaction wasn't as I had expected.

"For _what?_"

"For everything," I answered. I gestured toward the entire world. "I guess I feel bad for not having caught the Avatar by now. You know, when I joined you, I thought that the odds of you getting the Avatar would have increased because you had me on your side. I think that I'm just making the situation worse. I mean, I nearly killed a man." I heard myself say it, and even then I couldn't believe it.

"You're not sorry for anything," said Zuko. His voice sounded sincere, yet I thought that he meant that I felt nothing.

I looked at him accusingly; he made up for his word choice,

"I only mean that if you are sorry, you shouldn't be." Zuko said clearly.

"I didn't know that today was the anniversary..." I said softly, turning to him. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry for that?" he retorted apathetically. "Nobody else is. I sort of brought it on—"

I shook my head and covered his mouth with my hand. He looked at me, startled.

"_No,_ Prince Zuko." I said sternly, meeting his eyes. "You did nothing…_nothing_ to deserve what happened to you. Don't say that you brought it on yourself, love. It was _not_ your _fault._"

I withdrew my hand from his mouth. He and I stared at each other for just a minute. We both knew that we argued frequently about his banishment from the Fire Nation. He believed that he deserved what he got when he disgraced his father in the war room; I thought it was a cruel punishment for a twelve-year-old boy. It was no different than when I was forced to run away when I was young.

I hesitated to speak anymore, but I continued, though quietly.

"Zuko, I thought you would abandon the Avatar mission after what happened at the North Pole. Your uncle told me that if Aang and his friends hadn't rescued you from the North Pole, you would have frozen to death. That's how you ended up in the city, isn't it? The Avatar brought you back so that you wouldn't have died, right?"

Zuko's silence basically answered my question.

"Sweetie, you _don't_ need to prove yourself," I said, setting my hands on his shoulders. "You have done so to your crew, your uncle, and me more than once. You don't have to—"

"Mura, you don't know _anything_."

He shoved my arms away. I recoiled.

I sighed dejectedly.

"I thought that if I talked to you, you would at least _listen_ to me…"

"I have, and you're just repeating everything you've said to me." Zuko retorted. "You don't understand the pressure that I've been—"

"_I_ don't under_stand_?" I said, annoyed. "_I _don't? Zuko, as odd as it may seem to you, we're actually _not_ that different."

"_Yes_, we are," Zuko replied. "We've been sailing on a raft for three weeks—nothing has changed. I'm still determined to go home. It would help matters if you wanted to come back with me."

"I said _no_."

He frowned at me; I returned it.

He turned his back on me.

"Zuko, you can't possibly think that your father—"

"You don't know _anything_ about my father," said Zuko, rounding on me. He stormed toward me so suddenly, his eyes glowering so angrily—I fell to the ground, startled, and taken off guard. "As hard as it may be for you, Mura, you don't know _everything_ that happens in the world just because you're this weird portal to some kind of spirit. You're only sixteen—you're not old enough, or experienced enough to tell me how the world works. You don't know _anything_ about my family. Just leave it alone!"

"Zuko," I pleaded, "I just don't like seeing you so sad."

"I'm not sad!" said Zuko irritably. He leaned forward and set his face in front of mine. Those amber eyes glimmered with angry. "I'm not sad, Mura, I'm angry—with _you._ Every time I fail, you bring me down."

"That's not true…"

"_Yes_, it is."

"Zuko…"

He straightened his back and stared down at me on the ground. He said nothing for a moment. I felt crushed, and apparently, it was clear on my face that he had hurt my feelings; for Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers and sighed, as if to regain composure. I scorned myself as I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassing pain. My eyes watered.

"Mura."

I bit my lip and found some strength to get to my feet.

"Did…Did you mean what you said?" I asked, hearing my voice crack.

Zuko shook his head. His answer didn't match his gesture.

"I don't know."

I sighed shakily.

"I don't like seeing you this way," I said softly. "I don't like seeing you in pain. And that's all you feel. I've only seen you smile when you're with me. But even now, it's like you either shut yourself down or you are always angry. I'm helpless because I can't make you feel better."

Zuko met my eyes when I said the last.

I made a small smile and approached him.

"I _can't_ come home, Zuko," I said, though I felt sad when I said it. "I would _love_ to come with you, and live in your castle; as if our life could be a fairytale. But I just couldn't live with myself."

"My father would understand…"

I shook my head 'no'.

"Life is not fair, Zuko. _Nobody _understands. You are the only person that I've ever met who doesn't want to use my powers for personal gain. That's what your father wanted; that's what Zhao wanted from me. I am not a person to anybody in the Fire Nation. I'm a lethal weapon, an object: somebody's property, somebody's puppet that they can just make angry. But they don't understand that it's not _me_ controlling my body when I'm angry. And you know this, but you still want me to come home with you?"

Zuko looked downcast.

"I enjoyed our childhood," I said gently. "I loved your tour that you gave me; I _loved_ the Fire Nation. But I know what it's become. Things cannot be as they were."

"Well, if you don't intend to go back with me; then why do you still help me? What's in it for you?" asked Zuko, suddenly curt. "If you think that the world needs the Avatar, why do you help me try to catch him?"

I laughed slightly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Because I love you, you idiot," I said breathlessly. "People do crazy things when they're in love."

Zuko's cheeks blushed. He made a small half-smile. Then he embraced me. For a moment, I thought it was all better.

We met General Iroh on the edge of the river. He was gathering pieces of broken shells from the river side with ecstatic movement. I don't think that I had ever seen a man get all happy about seashells. That was just one of the things that I thought was funny about Zuko's uncle. He smiled cheekily as we approached him, our hands interlaced.

"Oh, good," he said with a wide grin. "You're back. We better get back. I want to show you what I found."

As we returned to the rest house, I felt suddenly awkward. That paranoid feeling fell over me with an ominous rush; I felt paranoid, like I was being watched. Iroh emptied a bag of seashells on a table beside me. He lifted a few of them and inspected them with awe,

"Look at these magnificent shells! I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come."

Zuko frowned,

"We don't need any more useless things. You forget that we have to carry everything ourselves now."

"Oh, crap…" I muttered, as I turned to the far side of the room.

I realized why I felt so paranoid. There was a dark figure sitting at a table in the other side of the room. And when she spoke, I could recognize that silky drawl from anywhere.

"Hello, brother. Uncle. _Friend."_

Zuko and Iroh turned to the source of the voice; they looked surprised at first, then angered. As for me, I felt a different sensation that bubbled in my stomach; it wasn't anger, but it was more like…uneasiness. I automatically presumed, as before with Zuko, that she was here for my arrest. The last time that I saw the Fire Nation princess, she was rather vindictive, but the perfect daughter that Ozai wanted. She was an instant Firebending prodigy; and I didn't have to sit in on one of the War meetings to learn this. She practically oozed skill…and deadliness.

Azula had made her presence known to Iroh and Zuko, and I realized why I actually felt ominosity. The way she had addressed me as 'friend' was quite the opposite of what it entitled. It was as if she had spat venom in my direction without revealing the fangs and the forked tongue behind her teeth.

Azula had aged beautifully. She had her father's smile and her mother's eyes. The family resemblance between her and her brother was uncanny. It would have been a supreme mistake on my part to not be able to identify siblings. Zuko's face showed automatic dislike.

Apparently, their relationship hadn't changed much since I saw them.

He stepped forward.

"What are you doing here?" he asked accusingly.

Azula looked utterly unaffected by their glares. She was toying with a seashell in her hand. Her pretty face cascaded among our three faces then she eyed Zuko with a frown on her face.

"In my country," she began arrogantly, "we exchange a pleasant 'hello' before asking questions." She rose to her feet, caressing the shell in her hand as if it was a gentle pet. As she moved toward us, I sensed Zuko step back slightly, stepping in front of me. "Have you become uncivilized so soon, Zuzu?"

"_Don't call me that!"_ Zuko retorted furiously.

See? Now 'idiot' doesn't sound too bad right now, does it? Of course, I expected Azula to be a little antagonistic. If she wasn't, I would have thought that she had been brain-washed. Azula's eyes fell away from Zuko, thoroughly pleased by his outburst, and she gazed at me momentarily. A thin smirk appealed to her face. It was a common expression that I had often seen there.

"Well, well, well, look who's here," she drawled.

"Hi, Azula," I said uneasily.

Iroh stepped beside me, so that I was flanked by the royal family on either side.

"To what do we owe this honor?" he asked.

Azula's expression faltered; her hand collapsed around the shell, smashing it quietly into pieces.

"Hmm. Must be a family trait: both of you so quick to get to the point. Looks like the only one who still has kept her manners is the same girl who ran away when things were too…_complicated?_" Azula looked at me briefly, surveying my appearance, noting what has changed.

From behind her, she extracted an object; I was startled when her hand zipped toward me. It flung from behind her back—however, my instincts reacted, and I opened my eyes nervously to see the tip of a dagger floating in front of my face. Azula smirked.

"Well, it certainly seems like you can use your abilities now. Doesn't it, Mura?"

Her drawl cascaded to condescension. Azula grabbed the handle of the knife out of the air and pocketed it. I frowned at her. I wasn't the only one who felt disdained by her dirty trick. Zuko's hands clenched. Admittedly, Azula had frightened me at that moment. Apparently, Azula made the connection between Zuko standing in front of me, my evident uneasiness, and his sudden temper flare. She gave a cruel smirk.

"Zuko, your standards are falling. I liked it better when you were with Mai." Azula retorted.

"What do you want, Azula?" said Zuko darkly.

Azula shrugged and glanced at the window.

"I've come with a message from home. Father's changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He's heard rumors of plans to overthrow him—treacherous plots. Family is the only thing that you can really trust." She glanced at me, and then she turned to look at Zuko. Her voice and her face softened. "Father regrets your banishment. He wants you home."

Zuko's eyes widened. He looked out the window, shocked and uncertain. I, too, disbelieved Azula's message. I thought, sincerely, that it would be great for him to return without the Avatar. After all, that's what I had been preaching the entire time. This could only prove my point if he returned without the Avatar. However, I doubted it. I glanced at Iroh. He shared my expression.

Azula continued, still wearing that pleasant expression on her beautiful face,

"Did you hear me? You should be happy. Excited. Grateful. I just gave you great news."

"I'm sure that your brother," said Iroh, "just needs a moment to—"

"_Don't interrupt, Uncle!"_ Azula interrupted him angrily. She walked up beside Zuko. "I still haven't heard my thank you. I am not a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way."

Zuko's voice was reduced to shock and quiet disbelief,

"Father regrets? He…wants me back?"

Azula nodded in understanding.

"I can see that you need time to take this in. I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening." Her eyes turned to me. "I need a word with you…Commander, if you'll be so kind?"

I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously as she gestured for me to follow her outside the rest house. However, as understanding as I was, I attempted to let the past simply flow like the waterfall. I followed her outside, where the sun beat down on our heads. She folded her arms across her chest.

"There have been rumors, Mura," said Azula. Her voice had changed direction to me. It had been curt, and now she spoke as if we were life-long friends. Even her expression was soft and curious. "Admiral Zhao was killed in the north. Rumors say that you killed him and that the Ocean Spirit dragged him off."

"It's not true," I said, shaking my head. Then, against my better judgment, I added, "I wanted to, even tried to; but I couldn't."

"You know, you still have a chance to redeem yourself to Dad."

"_That's_ not true either," I retorted blatantly.

She didn't seem surprised that I doubted it.

"Look," she said with such conviction, "I know that we left our friendship stamped into the dirt the last time I saw you. I did what I was told to do, Mura. Father _told_ me to hurt you if you couldn't hurt me. If I did what you did, I would be in Zuko's place."

"Oh, yeah?" I retorted half-heartedly. "Now why don't I believe you?"

Her face relaxed.

"My dad was acting in the right of Fire Lord, Mura. Surely you understand the consequences. Surely, you _understand_ everything—anything. That's what you're all about, aren't you? The spirits, the mind powers, the inner peace—it's acceptance. You should know that my dad was only acting in the throne. You stole from us, so it was a wrong that he was righting."

I frowned at her.

"Get to the point, Azula."

"If you come back with me, Father will relinquish your bounty over your head; he promises that he won't make you do anything that you are against; he knows that your powers are linked to your moral values."

"Then I suppose I'm useless with or against him, aren't I?" I retorted.

"Mura, I'm only telling you these things out of the past friendship," said Azula sternly. "If Zuko comes back with me—and I'm sure that he will—what will happen to you, hm? You won't have anywhere to go but back to us."

I smiled sarcastically.

"I'm not the naïve girl that I was when I ran away. I know that in order for me to stay safe, I have to be as far away from the Fire Nation—and _you—_as possible."

Azula's expression hardened.

"Well," she said with a frown, "I'll give you time to think about my offer. Just know that your _boyfriend_ really wants to come home; and he'll go with or without you." She turned to leave, paused, and looked at me with a gentle look. "Just think about it, Mura? You and I were best friends when we were kids. Things could be like they were."

She smiled and walked away. I scoffed, and entered the rest house. Iroh looked at me briefly; I shook my head in disbelief. Azula was a very good liar; I couldn't even tell a change in her brain waves. But I found it especially difficult to believe that Ozai suddenly decided that Zuko could come home _and_ that I was welcome back.

For the rest of the evening, Iroh and I sat down for tea. I told Iroh what Azula had told me outside. He shared my thoughts exactly. When night came upon us, I realized that Zuko didn't feel the same way.

"We're going home," Zuko said happily. "After three long years. It's unbelievable."

Iroh had come to the window, examining the outside with thought and doubt.

"It _is_ unbelievable." Iroh said skeptically. "I have never known my brother to regret anything."

Zuko sounded surprised when he spoke to Iroh, and then his voice hardened forcefully,

"Did you listen to Azula? Father's realized how important family is to him. _He cares about me_."

Iroh turned from the window.

"_I_ care about you. And if Ozai wants you back…well, I think it may not be for the reasons that you imagine."

I rose to my feet as well.

"Azula told me the same thing, Zuko," I said, picking up from where Iroh left off. Zuko turned from us. His back stiffened. I knew that I was irritating him, but I needed it to be said. "She told me that Fire Lord Ozai would lift the price over my head, and that he would respect me. Sweetie, do you even _know_ your sister? It's not exactly like she's the queen of an honesty empire."

"You don't know how my father feels about me," he said defensively. "You don't _know_ anything."

Iroh glanced at me hesitantly, and he said with a gentle voice,

"Zuko, I only meant that in our family, things are not always what they seem."

I winced as Zuko whirled around angrily and confronted his uncle,

"I think you are _exactly_ what you seem: a lazy, mistrustful, _shallow_ old man who has always been jealous of his brother."

"_Zuko!_"

He turned me on my word of chastisement.

"You have always doubted my father's word—why don't you _accept_ now that he wants me back?"

"We're only looking out for you," I replied hotly, realizing that our argument from earlier was starting anew. "Your uncle _has_ a point, Zuko. In the line of the royal family, it's almost a family tradition to—"

Zuko approached me, and his face was only inches from mine; he glared at me with such a menacing glint in his amber eyes that I flinched when he hissed the words,

"I dare you to finish that sentence."

"Will you please just…_listen_… to me?" I asked. Even my voice sounded like a whimper. He pulled back, and he shook his head in utter disbelief. Zuko walked away without looking back. Iroh looked on sadly, and he closed his eyes. I strode toward him sympathetically and wrapped my arms around him in a bear hug.

"It's okay." I muttered.

I wasn't even sure who I was trying to convince.

I sighed shakily.

"I…I could go with him…" I whispered.

Iroh looked at me morosely and shook his head slowly.

"No, Mura. It's much too dangerous. Azula is precise and deadly. You cannot rely on your mind for protection around her. I'll go with Zuko in the morning. If you _truly_ love my nephew, you will see us off. But nothing more, do you understand me?"

"So," I said sadly, "this is goodbye?"

He shook his head.

"I'm not sure, Mura."

When Iroh retired to his bed, I stepped outside of the rest house to see Zuko sitting on the porch, fumbling with the rucksack of small, portable items. I stepped back into the house, and quietly gestured at the opening of the bag in his hands. It closed shut from his absent-minded fingers. He looked down at it, surprised. Then he looked around to find me; he glanced over his shoulder.

I waved at him from behind the wall. He said nothing. I sat down beside him on the porch. He and I sat in silence for several minutes. His face wasn't angry like before. It was sad. I recognized that expression. He had looked that way when I had blacked out. And, yet, as I gazed at him…there was something more.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked tenderly.

"I was just thinking," he told me timidly, "how different it will be at home. You know…without you."

At this, I looked away.

"Azula said that you could come with us." Zuko suggested indirectly.

His voice jerked my stomach uncomfortably. I realized the feeling that coursed through me, and it wasn't new. Guilt. I felt guilt.

"I can't," I muttered.

"Yes, you can," he said. "Come with me."

"Zuko," I sighed tiredly, "I can't make you change your mind, can I?"

"Then," said Zuko lightly, "I'll stay with you."

"No," I declined, to my surprise. "If Azula is telling the truth, you can't refuse this. Besides, don't you have Mai back at home?"

Zuko's expression saddened.

"I don't want her." His hands took mine, and I felt my eyes burn, knowing fully well that I was going to start crying, right in front of him. "I want you."

Then his hands held my face in his palms, and his lips touched mine. It started out with just a simple peck, and then a simple kiss became passion…

I admit openly that I wanted him more than anyone that I had ever met; and I don't mean this as just lustfully. Words could never describe how guilty and yet shameless how I felt that night. I think Iroh is finding out now, if he is in the audience, that Zuko and I consummated our relationship on the front porch. Mai, I am sorry that you have heard about this, but I promised to tell the truth, which includes _everything_. Fire Lord Zuko, I believe that you are truly embarrassed right now, and even more so because I'm openly addressing you in front of well…everyone. I just want the public to know that I truly loved Zuko that night. It wasn't just a fling or an impulsive thing to do because of hormones and what not. I mean, if that was the case, I'd have lost my virginity to a sea gull when I lived alone on my island during my prepubescent years. Anyway, now that I have made people very uncomfortable, you should know that our nightly embrace was rather delightful.

Nothing weird happened; the world didn't shake, there was no Firebending going on—I didn't use my mind to do anything kinky…despite what people have said.

You know who you are.

My night ended with me in the arms of the Fire Nation prince.


	4. Of All the Familiar Places

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Four: Of All the Familiar Places

In the morning, Azula did as she promised. Her ship waited at the docks for an expectant Fire Nation prince. Although I secretly wished that he would go, I stood by what I said the other night; I watched him pack his things, attempting to cover sadness. However, as Zuko stepped out of the rest house, and he and I exchanged woeful gazed, a part of me actually _wanted_ to go home with him. Wistfully, I started to consider Azula's offer. If I could return to the Fire Nation then maybe things could go back to normal. However, my thoughts scattered back to the norm when I turned around and Iroh gazed at me from the window. I walked Zuko down the long stairway outside the house. Zuko descended quickly with bag thrown over his shoulder. As I walked down with Zuko, a call from above stopped both of short in our step.

"Wait!"

I turned to Iroh racing down the staircase, waving at Zuko. He, too, gathered a bag over his shoulder, and urgently called for his nephew to hold up. When he came to us on the steps, he panted slightly, and said breathlessly,

"Don't leave without me."

Zuko was happily surprised.

"Uncle! You've changed your mind!"

"Family sticks together, right?"

Iroh put a hand on his shoulder; Zuko's smiled cheerfully, the happiest expression that I had ever seen on his face. Zuko and Iroh turned to me, and they glanced down at the large Fire Navy ship that waited below. I hesitated to tell Iroh that I wanted to go with them. Over the course a year, they had become family to me. Watching them leave was like leaving me behind in the dust, and I'd be back where I was, alone in solitude. However, when I thought about Azula, I remembered the stock she came from: she was her father's daughter, while Zuko was his mother's son. They weren't alike at all. Since I could trust Zuko, it only meant that Azula was not to be trusted. So I stood by it, or at least, that's what I kept telling myself as we made our way down the staircase.

"We're finally going home," Zuko sighed. I glanced behind me to see Iroh, who wore that familiar skeptical scowl on his face. My distrust toward the Fire Nation was instantly renewed when I saw the expression; and once more, I felt helpless once more as I knew that Zuko wanted to return to a place where he wasn't welcome.

Zuko and Iroh walked in front of me. I merely walked with him to do as Iroh had requested: simply to see them off. As we approached the ship, I felt unsteady and nervous. There was a grip of Fire Nation soldiers that formed two ranks along the path leading to the ship. Zuko and Iroh walked toward them. Azula stood at the top of the stairs leading onto her ship; a soldier flanked either side. As Zuko, Iroh, and I walked between the columns of soldiers, I recognized shifty patterns in the brain waves around me. Vibrations in the air alarmed me quietly. I wasn't the only one who was feeling it either. Although Zuko walked with the look of content on his face, Iroh eyed them suspiciously; he glanced behind me, and apparently my eyes told him exactly what I was thinking.

There was something odd going on with the soldiers.

Azula raised her arms in greeting and bowed to them; Zuko and Iroh bowed in return. I did it out of respect, knowing the political niceties of the Fire Nation.

"Brother! Uncle! Mura, welcome. I'm so glad that the three of you decided to come."

"Please," I said politely, straightening, "don't take this offensively, Your Highness, but I've decided to say."

Azula nodded nonchalantly.

"As you wish, Commander. It was a simple offer; and I respect your decision."

The two files of soldiers closed in behind me. I sighed inwardly, containing the uneasiness that racked my brain. In front of me, Iroh's hand found mine, and he squeezed it. It didn't console me; it only alarmed me. It confirmed that my suspicions were accurate. Even as the soldiers lined up behind me, and a captain stepped in front of Zuko and Iroh, I could tell that the captain especially was thinking with quite a load on his mind.

"Are we ready to depart, Your Highness?" he asked her.

"Set our course for home, Captain," Azula said pleasantly.

I heard Zuko say wistfully,

"Home…"

The captain called to his men,

"You heard the princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners ho—"

He stopped abruptly, mid-sentence, and he realized his mistake immediately. Zuko and Iroh stopped climbing the stairs to the ship, looking surprised. However, my eyes landed on Azula, who looked enraged at the captain's error.

"Your Highness…" he said, absolutely mortified. "I…"

Zuko's eyes widened in horror and anger immediately washed over his face. Iroh reacted quickly; he spun around and backhanded a guard off the ship's plank; and kicked another down the incline. Another guard approached from his left; he elbowed him off the incline. Soldiers swarmed us from the two lines. Five soldiers came toward Iroh; however, their paths were abrupt and halted as they were lifted up into the air and tossed over the side. Iroh looked at me expectantly.

"And to think," I muttered sadly, "I half-believed her."

I glanced back to the ship where Zuko stalked up the incline, furious.

"_You lied to me!_"

Azula scoffed.

"Like I've never done that before," she retorted smugly. She turned and walked away; two guards launched for toward Zuko. He brushed it off and charged forward, screaming after her. He leapt on board, knocked two guards on either side out of the way with flames shooting from his arm and leg. Iroh fought the soldiers on the path leading up to the ship. One launched a kick at him; but a blast from Iroh sent him flying. Two others approached from either side; Iroh Firebended at them, and knocked them off the path.

I was torn with three options: save Iroh, save Zuko, or stay out of the way.

I glanced at Zuko apprehensively. He wanted to fight his sister, but whether he could accept it or not, she had achieved a more masterful Firebending level than he did. She'd slaughter him before allowing him to have the thrown. While I tried to figure out what to do, a soldier had took my confusion for weakness, and he wrapped a hand around my throat from behind.

From around my waist, the meteorite waistband that I had fashioned from Zhao's present to me slid up my shoulder and grabbed his neck. He struggled against his small enemy; his hand released my neck, and I fell to the ground, gasping for air. Behind me, he attempted to pry the goo from around his neck as it strangled him. Knowing the feeling, I released him from his aspyhixation. Iroh tackled a soldier who came at him with a crazy approach, hooked his arm behind the soldier's back—he looked up to the ship where his niece and nephew were having a stand-off,

"_Zuko! Let's go!"_

I climbed the incline to get the ship. The moment that I stepped foot on the deck, a jet of hot, blue flames nearly singed my shoes. Azula's fingers smoked. She smirked in my direction. Zuko stepped in front of me protectively.

"Your fight is with me!" he said angrily.

His hands ignited with fire daggers.

"Oh, please," Azula chuckled. "Trust me, Zuzu; this is going to be much of a fight."

"Wanna bet?"

I heard myself say it without even thinking. Seven metal, black balls shot from my waist like bullets toward Azula, each one controlled by me. She expertly blocked each one with her arm guards. A jet of fire blow torched right over my head. The heat left black traces of soot on my face. That's how close of a call I had.

Zuko charged at her ferociously. It was actually quite…_exhilarating_…

He swung his fire daggers at Azula repeatedly; she simply avoided them by blocked his arms away from her. They fought within a foot from each other. I was useless in a close range battle, and all I could do was watch in dismay as Azula dodged his furious attacks with grace and expert evasion. I admitted it to myself: Azula definitely knew what she was doing.

She grabbed his arm and spun him around, pushing him off balance.

She taunted him.

"You know Father blames Uncle for the loss at the North Pole. He considers you to be a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar. And he thinks that your new pretty girlfriend is just as weak and cowardly as you. Why would he want you back home, except to lock the two of you up where you can no longer embarrass him?"

Zuko was breathing hard, trying maintain breath control. But his temper got the best of him. He leapt at Azula, throwing a flaming kick at her head. She leapt back, nimbly dodging his blows. She swiped at his face with her fingernails; he staggered back. Three cuts on his forehead bled easily. He charged forward and screamed, swiping his daggers at Azula; but she blocked his blows effortlessly, not a single hair out of place. The fight led up to the stairs toward the cabin of the ship.

A midst my distraction, five soldiers came toward me and grabbed each of my limbs. I let out a cry of surprise and alarm, as the soldiers tackled me to the floor. They held me down; one of them took a handful of my hair and pulled my head up to watch the fight. Azula kicked Zuko hard in his stomach. He staggered down the stairs a bit, but he recovered quickly and charged back toward Azula. Then a blast of blue flame sent him tumbling down the incline. She sighed as she walked toward him. Zuko landed hard with a _thud._

"Oh, poor Zuzu, what are you going to do now? Mother is no longer here to protect you."

Fire swirled in the palm of her hand.

Then the familiar sense of overwhelming anger and power surged through me like a sudden adrenaline rush. A flash of white, large wings appeared on my back; and suddenly the men that held me down were thrown against the sides of the ship, each landing extremely hard against the metal edge. Bones cracked; agony swept across the deck. I looked up to see Azula's expression. She was laughing.

"Ah, look at you go!" she said mockingly. "Let's see you do what Father asked you to do long ago, Mura! Go on, _strike me!"_

I marched up to Azula, unafraid.

The swirling fire in her hands crackled, popped, and it was like a blow torch was fired in front of me. I actually tried moving Azula's body, to get her out of my way to rescue Zuko; however, her body didn't answer to my call. She fought against me, and a wide smirk played on her evil, beautiful face.

"I'm no simpleton, Mura. You forget—_I'm smarter than you!"_

The blast of fire that I had thought that I could dodge blew me to the ground. I cried out in agony, landing beside Zuko on my stomach. My hands seared with inexplicable pain; tears seemed to pour out of my eyes uncontrollably. Zuko's hands fell over my shoulders to protect me. A look of horror filled his face. Behind him, I stared in matched terror as Azula created snapping, bright streaks of lightning.

"Zuko…" I gasped through the pain. "Zuko—behind you!"

Zuko turned, but as Azula directed the lightning to come toward us, Iroh stepped in front of us. He grabbed her fingers and channeled the electricity through his body and shot it from his other hand. It exploded harmlessly into the cliff side. He turned back to Azula, and kicked her; she was sent flying overboard, and splashed into the water.

Zuko helped me to my feet, and the three of us ran for it.

We ran as far as the river could take us, far from the rest house and the ship. My hands screamed with pain, but I temporarily ignored it, trying to get to safety.

We ran down a path and paused at a small body of water at the side of the river. I looked at my palms achily. Azula had burned me yet again, and worse this time around. The flames had created a scorch patter from my wrists to my elbows. Apparently, I had protected most of my body with my arms. I blistered, and my skin was a deep shade of red, almost as dark as blood.

Iroh tore off several pieces of his clothing. He wrapped them around my arms like a make-shift bandage. Even the slightest touch sent shivers of new agony through my arms.

"We should be safe here. For now," Iroh said softly.

I glanced at Zuko. He withdrew a knife and stared at him solemnly. Iroh nodded solemnly toward his nephew. Zuko took the knife and brought to his head; he cut off his ponytail. He passed it to his uncle, who did the same. They sent their locks of hair down the river. As we stood up, I knew exactly what happened.

I became a fugitive again, once more an enemy of the Fire Nation along with crowned prince and the retired general.


	5. Day One

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Five: Day 1

I could tell you everything that I remember, everything that had transgressed in my journey with Zuko and Iroh as we became fugitives. Everything that I saw was mesmerizing; even the kind acts from strangers that we encountered. I could tell you every sound that I heard, every smell that I whiffed, every single detail. I can remember every sigh that was made, or any screaming that took place during my travels. Despite by ability to recollect these things, I suppose I'll have to give the public a fair warning that my idiotic defense attorney graced me with some _suggestions_ before I could write down what happened after Zuko, Iroh, and I became fugitives. According to him—though I'm pretty sure it's because he's a creepy, old man—my details about Zuko and my…_encounter…_wasn't as explicitly narrated. By this, I mean that my attorney—who no doubt is reading aloud my testimony—has given word to me that although I have a telekinetic ability to recall small details, apparently it's not enough for me to simply _tell_ you that Zuko and I had sex for the first time (for both of us) before he was supposed to go home with Azula.

I find it appalling to describe intimate moments with my then-boyfriend at the time; however, my attorney is quite clear that if I want the audience to believe me, I have to open and honest with details from my journey. Apparently, this includes my indiscretions with Prince Zuko. I _do_ want the audience to know everything that transpired, so in order to have that happen, I actually have to walk you through the steps from the beginning of our transgressions to the end of…_climax_.

So, as a fair warning, I would like to tell my friends that, yes, these did happen—even if you weren't aware of it. Zuko's uncle might find these little discoveries a bit surprising, but—nevertheless, I am truthful when I say that our little conjugal visits did happen. In the event that I do remember certain details of my sexual encounters with Zuko, I do have to implore his present wife that these little stories of mine might become somewhat...Well, there's no somewhat about it. They are actually very detailed; and, with the chance that I might be putting my dignity on the line, I have to openly admit that Zuko _is_ actually very…talented. I can't really say much else without affecting Mai and Fire Lord Zuko's relationship—they are both quite the jealous type.

Anyway, it's a good idea to sort of keep an open mind. This will be just awkward for me as it is for you. Perhaps the only person who will actually bear the brunt of these descriptions is Zuko. I'm not implying that he started our sessions (seeing as how I was—am—extremely attracted to him) but it takes two to tango.

Well, I suppose I should continue my testimony a day after Zuko and Iroh declared themselves as fugitives.

It was 34 hours ago that Azula had tricked Zuko into thinking that he was going home; and he, Iroh, and I fled the Fire Nation ship to run past the rest house that we had been staying at for a couple of days. After Iroh bandaged my second-degree burns that Azula had bestowed on me, we didn't waste too much time to fly into a forest. Iroh and Zuko had packed their bags over the shoulders into the forest, which I led them through quickly. The attendants that had been so kind to us when we were plucked off the raft of driftwood had generously given my companions clothing from the Earth Kingdom, to help us blend in with the rest of the natives if we saw any. Iroh, Zuko, and I changed into them separately, and we abandoned our spa uniforms by the edge of the river.

Although my burns were slowly becoming agitated, my thoughts didn't linger on my new wounds for too long. I kept thinking to myself that Azula actually had me partially convinced that Zuko was coming home finally after three long years—and I scorned my mind for believing her lies. I had been right all along, but even when I should have been basking in my silent triumph, I felt as if I had smacked a loud "_I told you so"_ in Zuko's face. When he was fighting Azula, I had never seen him so furious before in my life. And although I considered his hot temper to be arousing, I felt that he had been hurt yesterday at the same time. I had even tried to help him, but my affections for the prince had gotten in my way—I had forgotten in the thick of the things that Azula was more powerful than she had ever become. My love for Zuko was quite evident in the middle of the fight; she even had her soldiers pin me down and make me watch the mini Agni Kai on the ship.

What bothered me more than anything from what transpired of the event was that Azula was able to take down Zuko; but that's what not what bothered me. What she said to him "_Mother's no longer here to protect you"_ had made me so angry that I lost control. And when Shen Si Ling had taken over, I tried to move Azula away from Zuko. She fought me. She fought me, and I couldn't even move her body like all the others. When I had become this powerful spirit, she hadn't shown fear or surprise like all the other people I met. She had started laughing. Her words repeated in my head…

_Ah, look at you go! Let's see you do what Father asked you to do long ago, Mura! Go on, strike me!"_

Instead of just leaving when I should have, I had let my inhibitions leave without a goodbye. I simply stormed up to her like I could take her on my own.

_How you could have been so _stupid_, _I thought to myself as Zuko and Iroh followed me through the forage and rubble. We didn't stop walking until we came to a clearing of the large forest. Sunlight peeked curiously through a slit in the canopy above us.

Zuko and Iroh collapsed to the ground tiredly. I looked around me with a slight frown on my face, feeling as if I had returned to my life as before. A gloomy sigh escaped my lips. It was hard to suppress my disappointment as I took in my surroundings. I turned to look behind me, and Zuko had risen to his feet. Iroh sat on his knees.

They both looked as doleful as I felt.

"I can't believe I'm back to being a fugitive," I muttered glumly, indicating the world around me. "Just two days ago, I was an officer on a ship. Well…it was fun while it lasted." I looked at my arms tenderly. The wrappings that Iroh had provided me from the rip of his clothes had started to wet. My blisters apparently hadn't spared me any expense to give me another reason to hate the Fire Nation princess. I winced in pain, realizing that this was a thing that I was going to have to endure for the next few weeks.

"We should start gathering some shelter before I dark," I heard Iroh say. "It'll be hard enough as it is to find food."

"It's not really that hard," I said casually, hands on hips. "I'm sort of an experience girl when it comes to living off the land."

Zuko's expression hadn't changed for the last few minutes. He had a sour look on his face. I didn't have to ask why he looked so down and angry. Living like a fugitive was not a walk in paradise, and it didn't help matters that he just had his hopes squashed and thrown into ash only hours ago. His golden eyes looked in my direction. I wasn't sure if he was expecting me to slam what happened back there in his face, or if he was expecting some kind of…I don't know…intelligent information to slip out of me.

"It could be worse," I muttered to him.

"Yeah, I could think of a few ways," he retorted unhappily.

Iroh had already started gathering wood for a campfire. At least we didn't have to worry about trying to light it. That's how I learned that I could combust objects with my mind. A few nights of the cold could get you thinking of all kinds of ways to stay warm. I imagined that it wouldn't be as hard as it was living on the island by myself. The company was a tad more sociable than the last time this happened to me.

"Come on, Zuko," I said softly, taking his hand. "We should start finding some food. It'll be night soon. It's hard enough to stay alive as it is."

He didn't respond; he merely followed me as we stepped back into the jungle of tree trunks and hanging leafy branches.

As a woman who spent most of her childhood in the wilderness, I had developed a keen sense of botany; though I only truly recognized the plant life that I had encountered on the island. The plants around me were foreign and new, though a few I identified as ingredients for a bland, but fulfilling salad. As I identified the plants, Zuko and I plucked them and a few extras to save on a trip. For the longest time during our harvest, we barely exchanged conversation excepted for the few words I said to him when I told him which plants were edible and which were poisonous during consumption.

As I was inspecting a small bundle of mushrooms against the trunk of a massive tree, I heard Zuko's voice, quiet and without malice,

"I suppose you're going to be the one who makes the calls now, seeing as you actually know what you're doing."

I glanced at him; he wore a very clear unhappy expression.

"I'm no more glad than you are that we have to live like this," I said, indicating '_this'_ with a wave of my hand to the mushrooms at my feet. "But I suppose, yes, I guess that I am."

"How did you do it?" he said.

I felt a little relief as he continued to speak to me.

"What do you mean?"

"How did you outlast it?"

"With this much time on your hands, you sort of become patient," I replied, resuming my gardening.

"How did you beat it?"

I halted momentarily to think of an answer. I rose to my feet and handed him several mushrooms that I harvested.

"I met you," I answered briefly before bending down to retrieve more.

"But this shouldn't be too hard, Mura. I mean, you did this for four years."

"It's not easy," I retorted. "But you sort of get used to eating vegetation all the time."

We continued to walk through the forest. Silence impaled us once more for a few more lasting minutes.

"I suppose that I won't be coming home," Zuko said softly.

"It doesn't seem that way," I replied.

"So you _were_ right about it all, huh?"

"I don't exactly want to take credit for this." I mumbled. "You're not alone in this, Zuko. I thought she was telling the truth for a moment too." I turned to him and smiled sadly. "I guess we're both idiots, hm?"

"Does it hurt so much now?" asked Zuko quietly. He pointed his chin to my burned arms.

"It comes and goes," I replied uncomfortably.

"She has a bad habit of pushing pain onto others." Zuko retorted. His voice had hardened.

"I know that you're hurt," I began tenderly, "but you really shouldn't dwell on this. It was a terrible thing for Azula to do, but I sort of expected that this would happen."

"I should have too," said Zuko irritably.

"You're her brother, dear," I said understandably. "Family is important to everyone. You trusted her. Come on, we have to get back to your uncle."

As we turned back, Zuko stopped me.

"I'm sorry that you got burned."

I was touched by his apology, but I had already accepted it a long time ago. His fury on the ship had told me that he had regretted what he had said to me. I had forgiven him right there. I leaned forward and kissed him briefly on the lips. He looked at me for a moment; his cheeks blushed.

We walked in comfortable silence on our way back.


	6. Working Like a Fugitive

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Six: Working Like a Fugitive

I never realized how experienced that I was in living like a fugitive until I was teaching Zuko about how to survive in the wilderness. He wasn't as bad as what Azula might have been, but he had a hard time accepting things as they were: such as being able to create a basic structure under which we would sleep. As Iroh lit a fire over the brambles and twigs that Zuko and I had collected in the forest, Zuko was uttering swear words under his breath as he forcibly tried to die two massive logs together with leaves and string from under the swelling roots of nearby trees. The idea was to make a tent by pegging two trunks in a triangle, perpendicular to the ground; everything else would take care on its own with enough leaves, mud for mortar, and anything else that we could find to make a shelter.

It must have been traumatic for Zuko, too, when we came across a wolf carcass and— with the meteorite bear balls, I formed them into a sharp knife—and I started to cut away the skin to make a wolf pet. I pretty much got the idea that Zuko hadn't seen as much as a survivor's manual when he peeled off toward a bush and proceeded to wretch. Iroh, though, considered the dead animal skin to be a resourceful way of thinking. When I had finished with the wolf, I pulled the skeleton from hind sight and covered it with leaves.

I wasn't sure what—or who—had killed the poor thing, but it had been barely feasted on or even touched when Zuko and I had come across it. I did the disgusting job to carve away at the wolf's body to harvest its meat. When I came back with a make-shift basket full of the animal hide, and blood slowly dripping from the bottom of the back, it was quite obvious that Zuko was not eating anything.

As the wolf was cooked on the open fire, I wiped my bloody hands on the grass beside me, and sat on a log, gazing at the flames. Making the tent and blankets, and cooking for three people had made me realize just how alone we really were in the middle of the forest. There were no other soldiers around us, no sign of any rescue or anything. I then also realized how alone I had been on the island.

Zuko's expression returned to a miserable, off-in-the-distance gaze. I knew that the more I taught him about making a life in the wilderness, the more he seriously hated living like a fugitive. He was the crowned prince of the Fire Nation; and I understood his growing resentment. It wasn't easy being royalty and switching to having to retrieve, kill, and harvest one's own meal. But as life had it, that was the only way to survive.

Iroh's noise of hunger satisfaction pulled me out of my thoughts; I turned from Zuko to look at his uncle in amusement.

"You know," he said, "you have a knack for the culinary arts. It's amazing how you can make a meal with only a few leaves and an animal like this. Zuko, you should try it!"

Iroh offered Zuko a charred slice of the beast's leg. Zuko turned away from it, looking nauseous.

"It's not like I went straight up to it and bashed its head in," I said flatly. I honestly felt a little neglected; after everything that I had done that day, I thought it would be well-deserved for me if he would at least try it.

"Well," said Zuko, "you should at least know where I'm coming from; an hour ago, I watched you make a hat out of its fur."

"It's not a hat; it's a blanket," I corrected him. I pulled the said object in question from behind me, showing him the animal pelt. "It's cold during the night, like now. You do what you need to do to get by, Zuko. There's no harm in it."

"That's a weird thing to say coming from you." Zuko retorted. "I thought you didn't harm animals."

"It's all about moderation," I said nonchalantly. "If we were meant to be vegetarians, the wolf I cooked would have leaked chloroform, not blood. Anyway, what's with you? You and Iroh have seen enough war in your time. What's a carcass compared to whole rank of soldiers killed on the front lines?"

My obvious dislike for militant operations came too apparent in my voice; however, Zuko and Iroh simply looked at me with little discomfort. I made a very good point, and I was pleased.

"I think," said Iroh from my side, "that everything should be in moderation. But obviously"—he patted his wide mid-section with evident pride—"I can't speak for myself. You really could take care of anyone that came on your island, Mura. What you lack in combat is what you make up for in survival. It's a rather elegant system."

I raised my burnt arms in conviction but without harshness in my voice,

"Looks like I'm not too great at evasive maneuvering like I thought I was."

"You can't dodge every bullet," said Iroh with a shrug. "What happened to all three of us on Azula's barge was one mean trick. What we all need to focus on is that we didn't fall for it; and we saw through her scheme before it could harm us."

"The only way we knew she lied," said Zuko coldly, "was that the captain let the secret loose."

Iroh patted his shoulder,

"Destiny works in mysterious ways. Even you, Prince Zuko, wouldn't have ever thought that you would have run into Mura later down the line. Things happen for a reason; I believe that to the highest degree. Whether it's of great important or simply a small hello in a corridor, nothing is without purpose."

Iroh yawned and stretched.

"Well," he said at the end of his yawn, "I'm going to go to sleep. Tomorrow, you can show me how to tie a sailor's knot."

I blinked.

"Why do you want to learn how to do that?"

"Well, for the sake of knowledge," he shrugged. "I'll leave you two kids alone."

"Good night, Uncle," Zuko bided him, still frowning.

We watched him walk a fair distance from us. The fire crackled in the momentary silence. It was like there always quiet time between Zuko and me. And sometimes, there was no need for words or excuses to make pleasant conversation. I moved away from the log that I was sitting on to sit on the grass. Zuko imitated me.

I glanced at him furtively. What attracted me to Zuko was the way he looked when he was lost in thought. The best time to watch him was when he was off somewhere, miles away, so that when I did look at him, his eyes never wandered. The Fire Nation had sets of golden eyes that were like glistening honey; and that was Zuko's eyes looked like as he stared at the fire in front of us.

Then I asked the question that had bothered me in the back of my mind for about a day.

"Zuko, when you and I were by the rest house, the night before you were supposed to go with Azula…What exactly was that?"

"Well, it's pretty obvious what it was." Zuko said with a shrug. Although he had said it so casually, discomfort appeared in his face shortly afterward. "It was the last time I would have seen you; it was last time you would have seen me."

"Well, before we did…_that_," I said, indicating the indiscretion with the wave of my hand, "you told me that you wanted me. I mean, was it like 'want' as in a sexual want, or was it…you know." For some reason, I struggled with saying the other possibility. "Was it…something more than that?"

Zuko apparently had questioned the intimate connection before. He didn't seem too surprised that I was asking about it; it had to come sooner or later. He reached for some kind of answer or explanation. I didn't expect a straight answer; and if he did tell me, I wasn't sure that I would like it. I was absent-mindedly fidgeting with my fingers, realizing just how nimble he made me feel as he pondered the matter.

It was if the both of us were reliving the night. Even thinking about it made only want him again, and I wasn't so sure that it was a basic love feeling. It was much stronger than that. Everything about him invited me in; even if he didn't think so: his voice, his face, and the way he acted when he was angry; the way he was when he was jealous. And even when he became exasperated, I thought it was cute how his voice would suddenly get high-pitched, and when he calmed, it returned to normal.

Even when he lost control and Firebended at me, I had to admit that it was sort of like a cramp letting go. If I got angry, I would accidentally open the gateway so that Shen Si Ling could enter. But when he got angry, all that ever came out of the argument was a blast of fire.

"I don't know," Zuko finally answered me.

I nodded, not exactly sure how I felt about the answer.

He scratched his head. Apparently he didn't know what to make of it either. It was our first time together, and the first time for the both of us at all. It might have been rushed; or perhaps on that night, we didn't really care. My thoughts evaded me just a minute later when I looked back at him and he was looking at me.

It wasn't a simple gaze either. It was the same expression that he wore about 72 hours ago before we made…whatever that was. I wasn't even sure that the both of us made love. I called it love because that what's I felt toward him. I wasn't sure how he felt for me; and once more, I anticipated the excitement and rejection of asking.

Still, he stared at me. I felt a bit over-scrutinized, though I liked it. If any other guy would have been looking at me like that, he'd have punched them without a second's consideration for the consequences.

His uncle was right. He did like me. And I only knew a few reasons why.

"Why," I asked quietly, "are you looking at me like that?"

"Like how?"

"Like _that._" I said, pointing to his face. "It's like I might fly up to the trees or something. Why are you looking at me like that?"

He shrugged.

"It's not like I can see what I look like, Mura." He sarcastically waved his hand in front of his face. "I don't travel with a pocket-sized mirror." He paused. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

He gave me a bored expression of _Really? We're really doing this?_

"Oh," I muttered.

"Yeah."

A few minutes passed awkwardly.

"What was it to you?" he asked in exchange.

"What was what?"

"The sex."

He said it so simply, and it turned my stomach pleasantly. I met his gaze.

"I don't know," I lied.

I shrugged the same way that he did.

"So," he muttered, "why did you ask me if you even didn't make an opinion about it?"

"I don't know," I retorted. _Was that the only thing that I could say now?_ "It was just a question, you know. Something to break the ice…I guess."

He scooted beside me.

"Well," he said, "did you…like it?"

"Well, _yes_," I said automatically. I pursed my lips when I realized how quick I was to respond. I glanced at him blushingly; he was smirking. "_What? It was an honest answer; that's what you wanted, right? An honest answer._"

He chuckled.

"All right, calm down. Relax," he said, evidently amused.

Another wave of silence crashed over us.

"Did you?" I asked him quietly.

"Yeah…" he retorted as if in a daze.

"Zuko." I muttered. He seemed to drift away. "Zuko…" I snapped my fingers in front of his face, "O' Prince Zuko, wake up!"

He looked at me.

"I was lost in thought_, it could happen to anyone!"_ he said, suddenly defensive.

I smiled. He sighed and looked at me with a considerate expression on his features. His hand fell over mine on the ground. I felt my face burn, and I knew that it wasn't from the fire in front of me. I scooted closer to him, and lay my head in the crook of his shoulder. His arm came around my shoulders. We said nothing.

I don't think that we ever had to say it. I'm sure that there was no need.

But as I sat with Zuko, I knew that I had fallen hard for him. I should have felt complete or whole. But I think that the reason why I felt a bit uneasy was because I had latched my heart onto a person who couldn't stay by my side forever. Eventually _something_ would happen to him: death, injury, loss of love. I knew that my loss would become the death of me. It seemed clear that I was quite vulnerable to anger, but devastation came when I thought that he had died in the bonfire; I had lost it when Azula tried to hurt Zuko with finality.

However, I deftly ignored these things; and the longer I sat with him, the less I heard the voices in my head saying,

_This is wrong, Mura. This is so very wrong._


	7. A Great Kindness

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Seven: A Great Kindness

We harbored the forest's pasture for two weeks. Over the course of the fourteen days, Zuko learned a few things from me. We scaled tree after tree to pick the ripest fruit from the branches, and I let him know which ones were better eaten like an apple or to be put in a stew. What followed from berry picking was actually hunting. According to Zuko, I had a bit of a wild side when it came to hunting. I didn't choose to use my powers to convince the animals to become my evening meals. I did it like any barbarian with a hunting knife. For about an hour and a half, I had bounded after a jack-a-lope. Zuko didn't find it too appealing after the poor beast started to tire. And he specifically lost interest when I plunged the knife into the heart of the four legged pronged rabbit. It fell to the floor quietly. Then I put it out of its misery by sending the make-shift sword into the middle of its cranium. Blood spattered the pasture, and the animal gave one final yelp before disappearing beyond a light.

Zuko came up from behind me.

"I like this," he indicated my person, "about you—the 'fend for yourself' attitude, but I have to say that it's _really_ disturbing how easily you can catch and kill a jack-a-lope."

"And it wasn't disturbing back at the North Pole?" I panted as I knelt before the large prize in front of me. "I don't seem to remember you panicking when I was trying to kill Zhao."

"That's disturbing too," Zuko retorted, his smile disappearing.

I grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled. A gut-wrenching sound squashed as I did so. I grimaced at the sight and turned to look at him.

"You simply just tell yourself that you need it in order to survive," I told him, point-blank. "Yesterday, we were lucky. Somebody—or something—had already done the work when we found the wolf. And we can't kill anything ahead of time," I noted. "That's just _wrong."_

I rose to my feet and waved my hand over the carcass. It floated toward me according to my gesture, and fell over the back of my shoulders like a dead weight corpse. Zuko saw me struggling diligently under the weight; so he took it without another word and draped it over his shoulders like a scarf.

"Why couldn't you have killed something lighter?" said Zuko as we walked back to camp.

"My bad, I forgot to look at today's menu whilst I was hunting." I said dryly. "Maybe next time, I'll just let _you _do the hunting."

As we came into the clearing, Zuko hoisted the dead animal carcass over his head and lazily tossed it onto the ground. Iroh, who had been observing some plants nearby, turned to face us. His eyes grew wide when he saw the slaughter.

"Is that where you've been this entire time? Hunting?" he asked with delightful surprise.

"Showing Zuko the ropes," I answered wistfully.

"Oh, yeah? How is it, Zuko?" asked Iroh, smiling.

"It's hard to say," he replied apathetically. "It's almost frightening."

"Well," Iroh chuckled humorously, "at least we don't have to worry about starvation."

"The animals can only keep for so long," I said, sitting down. "It'll be only about another day or two before they realize that we're predators."

"They're animals, Mura." Zuko said tonelessly. "It's not exactly like they're going to rebel. It's the natural food pyramid. We always come out on top."

"Ah, sweet innocent Zuko," I teased him playfully. "Mm. Try saying that while a leopard is using your stomach as a water bowl."

Zuko stared at me.

"_That's_ the sort of stuff that I'm talking about!" he said, pointing at me.

"It's _true_. We don't know how long this forest stretches," I said sincerely, "so we don't need to be making enemies with every single animal that we come across. Granted, it's for survival, but these creatures have minds of their own. They're smarter, stronger, and they know their places in the system."

From beside us, Iroh's voice uttered an awe-inspired coo. Zuko looked to him calmly, curiosity sweeping across his handsome features. I smirked as I looked to the side to see that Iroh had become mesmerized by a beautiful flower planted deep into the ground. It was similar to a panda lily, but was a lot more dangerous looking with white and red petals.

"Uncle…" Zuko's voice asked from beside me, "What are you _doing?_"

Iroh sniffed the flower deeply.

Zuko rose to his feet and strode behind his uncle to get a better look at what had distracted General Iroh so easily. I had never seen a man so absorbed into botany as Iroh, especially one flower. When he explained why he felt so enamored with it, it was pretty obvious then.

"You're looking at the rare white dragon bush," he said lovingly, turning to both Zuko and me with wide eyes. "Its leaves make a tea so delicious, it's _heart_breaking." A moment later, his voice dropped gravely, and eyed the flower suspiciously, "Or it's the white jade bush, which is poisonous…"

Zuko rolled his eyes.

"We need food, not tea. I'm going fishing."

I followed Zuko's footsteps. Behind us, I heard Iroh's contemplation,

"Hm…Delectable tea? Or deadly poison?"

Zuko and I went to the inner outskirts of the forest where a pond was located just a few feet from our campsite. Sitting this one out, I watched Zuko prepare to be an excellent fisherman. It wasn't for the lack of trying. I should have guessed that it would be quite a downer when he started his campaign by stabbing the water several times with a very long fishing pole. His efforts were genuine, but I couldn't suppress a small fit of laughter when he came back to me wearing a very sour expression on his face, holding his pole glumly; and at the end of his stick, a small minnow was speared. It wiggled pathetically.

"Don't…say…a word," Zuko said seriously.

I shook my head, accepting his request; though I couldn't resist a smirk as I turned my back to return to camp. When we walked back to Iroh, he was still in the same position as he was when we had left.

"Zuko," said Iroh, "remember that plant that I thought might be tea?"

Zuko's face slunk, horrified.

"You _didn't._"

"I did." Iroh turned to reveal his red, swollen face, which he scratched continuously. Zuko jumped back in revulsion, gasping at the sight of his uncle. I stared at him incredulously.

"General," I said, "you tried the plant _anyway?_"

"I can't say 'no' to tea," he said. "I don't suppose, Mura, that you know the cure for this sort of thing." He spoke calmly. "When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing."

He smiled widely as he pulled a branch of small, round-shaped fruit attached to smaller twigs. Iroh became suddenly excited,

"But look what I found! These are bacui berries, known to cure the poison of the white jade plant. That, or macahoni berries that cause blindness."

Zuko grabbed the branch from his uncle's hand and pitched into a nearby bush.

"We're not taking any more chances with these plants!" he said impatiently. "We need to get help."

"But where are we going to go?" said Iroh, continuing to scratch himself. "We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom, and fugitives of the Fire Nation."

I formed a dull look on my face I watched the two of them muse their options.

"If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed," Zuko pondered aloud.

"But if the Fire Nation discovers us," said Iroh, "we'll be turned over to Azula.

They exchanged glances with each other; then the two of them looked at me. We all thought the same thing, and headed for the direction.

"Earth Kingdom, it is," Zuko and I said in unison.

We traveled out of the forest and entered the outskirts of a nearby Earth Kingdom village by a lake. Disguised in the Earth Kingdom citizens' clothes that the masseurs had given us on our departure, we were barely recognized as Fire Nation soldiers. I inwardly thanked the men back at the rest house for their kind gifts. Iroh, Zuko, and I inspected the village for the nearest hospital. It was a small place with simple taste in furniture.

As we came upon a kind receptionist at the front, she directed us to a sweet-looking young woman, who was a healer at the hospital. We entered a private room; I closed the door behind me. The young woman had started creating a clay substance for Iroh's rash. As she continued her ministrations, I joined Zuko against the wall, where we sat in a few minutes of silence. She gave us three a quick look over then chuckled at Iroh as she started to apply the medicine. He was naked from the waist up; it looked like we had just gotten in the hospital just in time before it spread any closer.

"You three must not be from around here," said the girl innocently. "We know better than to touch the white jade, much less make it into tea…and _drink_ it."

Iroh laughed sheepishly.

"So," asked the girl, "where are you traveling from?"

I jumped, startled, as Zuko rose to his feet and spoke quickly,

"_Yes, we're travelers._"

I looked at him curiously.

"Do you have names?" the girl asked curiously.

"Yes," said Zuko hesitantly. "Of course we have names. I'm…Lee. This is my uncle, uh, Mushi. And my…girlfriend, Midori."

I congratulated him mentally for coming up with names so fast. The girl seemed to accept them, nevertheless. At Iroh's given name, he glanced unhappily over the girl's shoulder.

"Yes," said Iroh facetiously, "but my nephew was named after his father, so we just call him Junior."

"Mushi, Junior, and Midori, huh?" she glanced at me on my new nickname and smiled sweetly. I returned it. "My name is Song. You three look like you could use a good meal. Why don't you stay for dinner?"

Zuko frowned.

"Sorry, but we need to be moving on."

Song shrugged pithily,

"That's too bad. My mom always makes too much roast duck."

I nodded knowingly as I glanced toward the cot where Iroh leaned in and asked with interest,

"Where do you live exactly?"

After Song took care of Iroh's rash, she told us how to get to her house once we were ready to go. I bided her thank you; she left with a planted smile on her face. Zuko watched her go and closed the door after her. He turned to me.

"So," I said, smirking, "I'm your girlfriend, huh?"

Iroh thumped me hard on the back with a congratulatory,

"Welcome to the family, Mura!"

"It's the first thing that popped into my head," Zuko retorted almost grumpily. "I don't see why we had to accept her invitation."

"Oh, please, _Lee_," I replied sardonically, "as if you're amped to go back to the forest and eat the jack-a-lope."

He looked at me disapprovingly, and in a voice that said otherwise, he muttered,

"Of _course_ I am."

Iroh patted his shoulder.

"Just enjoy the meal, nephew."

I folded my arms across my chest.

"It's not like it's going to kill you to let people show you some kindness," I told him curtly.

We arrived at Song's mother's house in the evening. We sat at a knee high, table. Song had interested me in a conversation about working on the farm. Before long, Song's mother entered the living room carrying a plate of roast duck. As the mom separated the dish evenly to five plates, she spoke as she seated herself,

"My daughter tells me that you're refugees. We were once refugees ourselves."

Song nodded in agreement.

"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village. All the men were taken away. That was the last time that I saw my father…"

I glanced at Zuko surreptitiously. He lowered his gaze, knowing that pain. I bit the inside of my cheek understandably.

Zuko uttered a soft noise and said,

"I haven't seen my father in many years."

"Oh." Song commented compassionately. "Is he fighting in the war?"

Iroh finished slurping a mouthful of noodles and looked at his nephew with trepidation. Zuko placed his bowl on the table.

"Yeah…" he replied, glancing down at the table.

"Sometimes," Song said supportively, "our loved ones come back to us even though we may think that they'll never come back. Love is really never lost." She turned to me with a gentle gaze. "You and Lee look like you've been together for quite some time. It's quite nice how two refugees meet. There's no abiding destiny, is there?"

"Well," I chuckled nervously, "it's certainly is a mysterious thing."

"Why are you a refugee?" Song asked me.

"I've done quite a few things to make some people angry at me," I retorted. "My father was taken by the Fire Nation too."

"Oh, I'm sorry. What did he do?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm not sure. He's innocent."

Zuko shifted uncomfortably beside me, though the household didn't seem to notice.

Song's mother served us more food from her large platter.

"You three are probably the most interesting guests we've had yet."

Iroh chuckled good-humoredly.

"My dear woman, you have _no_ idea."

Toward the end of dinner, Iroh continued to tell Song's mother terrific stories and ways to improve the intensity of home-made fire flakes. Zuko and I resumed the rest of the evening on the porch that was lit by a large lamp. As I sat down beside him, he glanced at my bandaged arms from the burns.

"You know," he said softly, "maybe she can heal those too."

I shook my head.

"It's been three weeks since Azula singed me, Zuko. I keep them covered now because they're scarred." He met my gaze. "There is no shame in allowing others to help you, love. You're not as alone as you think you are."

After I finished speaking, the door slid open behind us.

Song walked over to us and sat down beside Zuko.

"Can I join you?" she asked kindly. "I know what you've been through. We've all been through it. The Fire Nation has hurt you."

As she reached out to touch his scar on his face, Zuko grabbed her hand without looking. She wasn't abashed as she pulled her hand away, accepting his request. As she spoke, she pulled her right pant leg up.

"It's okay. They've hurt me too."

She revealed a large Firebending scar. Zuko's face was shocked.

I could tell that he was starting to see how the world felt about the Fire Nation. Nobody respected what the Fire Lord was, who he represented. The world didn't admire them; it hated them.

Song observed the two of us.

"I guess it's nice to have somebody to talk to about these kinds of things, isn't it? How long have you two been together?" Zuko glanced at her carefully, trying to figure out if she was catching on; however, she was simply making conversation.

"About a year and a half," I answered. "Respectively."

"That's nice," admired Song. "It's not often that refugees stay in love. Did you and Lee's parents work together?"

Zuko cleared his throat and said,

"Sort of."

I could tell that the conversation was becoming stale, whether or not Song could see it. I set my hand on Zuko's shoulder, signaling him that it was nearly time for us to get going. Just as we rose to our feet, General Iroh emerged from the home, his hunger satisfied and a smile on his face. Song's mother walked him out the door.

"Thank you for the duck," said Iroh graciously. "It was excellent."

"You're welcome," said Song's mother appreciatively. She handed him a package, the leftovers of his favorite meal. "It brings me joy to see someone eat my cooking with such…gusto."

Iroh patted his stomach.

"Much practice."

I took Song's hand gratefully.

"Thanks," I said.

Zuko turned to leave, but Iroh stopped him.

"Junior, where are your manners? You need to thank these nice people."

He turned, offered a small bow, and said quietly without much feeling,

"Thank you."

Song called after him imploringly as we walked away,

"I know that you don't think that there is any hope left in the world, but there is hope. The Avatar has returned!"

Beside me, I heard Zuko say with quiet intensity,

"_I know._"

Iroh followed us.

As we passed the courtyard gate, there was a stable with a war ostrich tethered to a pole. Zuko stopped and looked at the animal. Then he released the ostrich from its leash and led it away with us.

"Zuko…" I muttered disapprovingly.

"What are you doing?" asked Iroh, appalled. "These people just showed you great kindness."

"They're about to show us a little more kindness."

I frowned at him. He looked at Iroh and me expectantly, and offered his hand from the seat on the ostrich's back.

"Well?"

I wasn't sure of the switch that happened from pleasantries to stealing a family's transportation, but Iroh looked down, dreadfully unhappy, and saddled on the ostrich. I shook my head disappointedly, but I took Iroh's offered hand. Zuko's uncle helped me up. I wrapped my hands around Zuko's waist.

"Whatever you're thinking now," I said to him in his ear as we pulled away, "give it some extra thought before you go gallivanting after another fool's errand again."

I anticipated that after Song had told him about the Avatar's return, despite what had transpired over the last two weeks, Zuko was going to start his quest anew and earn his place at his father's right hand.

I was right, in turns out.

I'll continue that in Chapter Eight.


	8. True Feelings

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Eight: True Feelings

After we returned to the clearing in the forest, where we had been nesting for the last month, I noticed Zuko's drifted mood from moderate happiness—like he had shown me while I was hunting with him—to this sad, down mood. I thought that after the visit with the girl, Song, Zuko would start looking up to our situation as an act of growth; but I was wrong.

Song's reach for inspiration by saying that the Avatar was alive seemed to revive a part in Zuko that made him remember _why_ he wasn't home. I had hoped that when he realized that living on the land wasn't as bad as he thought it was, he would have given up the idea of capturing the Avatar. I sort of got the hint when he hissed "_I know_" under his breath; and even more so when he took the war ostrich from the kind people. I anticipated that thievery would be another way of procuring money; I did my own theft in the Earth Kingdom as a child. It wasn't below me. But I didn't approve of stealing from people who were kind and considerate or who were trying to make it on their own as well.

We moved our nesting place to a small, unoccupied cave. It took less time to make it a home, considering the fact that when it rained, our construction skills weren't important factors. Iroh and I dismounted the ostrich. Zuko led it to the side of the cave, where it grazed the grass beneath its feet.

The three of us fell asleep on blankets under the shade of the cave.

When morning came, I felt a hand on my shoulder wake me.

"Mura. Mura, wake up."

Blurry-eyed, and a bit startled, I struggled to fixate on the face that hovered just a few inches away from mine. His face came into view.

"Zuko?"

I glanced around us to see that Iroh was snoring loudly in the back of the cave. Zuko sat in front of me on his knees. I blinked several times to get a clear vision, and my head was starting to buzz. Zuko's voice was a gentle caress in the silence.

"I'm going to town for a while," he said quietly. "Stay here with Uncle."

"How are you possibly—?"

He put a finger to my lips to silence me.

"I just didn't want you to worry about me when you woke up." Zuko said. "You tend to overreact when something happens to me." He said this with a slight smile.

"Zuko, how are you going to afford to buy anything? We don't have any money."

"You let me worry about that," said Zuko seriously.

"Zuko," I began to chastise, "I know what you're going to do…"

My voice trailed off when he leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. That pretty much stopped me breathless. I said little after he pulled away and rose to his feet.

"Just be careful," I muttered, feeling my cheeks burn.

As I expected, when Zuko returned to a wakeful and Iroh and me, he was carrying three baskets over his shoulders. He came into the clearing with a serious expression on his face. Upon entering, he tossed the baskets in front of Iroh, whose face went from surprise to suspicion.

"Where did you get these?"

"What does it matter where they came from?" said Zuko as he walked away.

Iroh gingerly ignored his comment: what was done was done. He dipped a hand into the basket and pulled out a pastry; when he bit into it, pink goo dripped from mouth. He exclaimed a satisfactory "_Mmm"_ and continued his breakfast ship from there. I rose to my feet and pursued Zuko, who stood by a tree, looking down at the roots.

"So, you went _shopping_, hm?"

"I told you not to worry about it."

"Sweetie, don't get me wrong: knowing that you're a bit of a bandit is a bit of a turn on, but stealing isn't exactly the way to get your honor back. Unless," I said half-hopefully, "you've actually given up on capturing the Avatar."

"No," he said seriously, turning to look at me, "I haven't given up. Once I figure out how to track him again, I'll capture him."

"People will start to recognize your face if you're traveling in plain sight, _and_ stealing from them," I remarked unhappily. "I'm not saying that it's wrong to fight for survival. I fought to stay alive for four years by myself. It's not that bad, Zuko."

"It isn't for you," he replied curtly. "You're used to this. I'm not meant to be a fugitive."

"Because your weight isn't being carried by four poll bearers?" I retorted.

He gave me a nasty look.

"Sorry," I uttered regrettably. "You were doing spectacularly two weeks ago. I even made you smile. What's changed from then to now?"

"Because I realize that there's nothing out for me here. I can't go from being a prince to…_this._" He indicated '_this_' by pointing to his Earth Kingdom clothing. "It's not like I lived like this, like you did."

"Well, you forget that I was run out of the Earth Kingdom before I found my homey little island." I remarked sternly. "I just want you to understand that there is more to life than simply being royalty. It's not exactly a happy home for you right now; it wasn't then."

Zuko sighed impatiently.

"I thought you said that you wanted me to be happy."

"I do," I replied casually.

"Capturing the Avatar would make me happy."

"No, capturing the Avatar would make your _father_ happy. You can't let him control your life for so long, Zuko. You're practically your own country! Who decides if you're actually proud of yourself, dear? You or your dad? Can't you see it? If you were meant to go home, Azula would have accepted you as a brother, not a prisoner."

"Mura, you don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, really? Well, according to my arms"—I pulled off my bandages—"I say differently!"

Azula's Firebending had lightly mottled my forearms; it was like a constant rawness that wouldn't go away. They stayed a dark maroon color. I realized that they were actually scars. Zuko looked at my arms swiftly then met my eyes.

"I'm sorry that she hurt you," he muttered. "But the Fire Nation has hurt me too. You just accept it and move on. It's a learning experience. I'm learning that despite the pain that I've experienced, I still have to accept my destiny and try to return to my home with honor."

I shook my head in frustration, beginning to lose my temper.

"Zuko, Fire Lord Ozai doesn't expect you to return with the Avatar. Why do you think he sent you sister after you? Don't you think, by now, she knows about the Avatar?"

"I like the vote of confidence," Zuko snapped coldly.

I frowned.

"I want you to go home with pride, and honor, and integrity, but I have to be the one to say that Princess Azula is actually very good—excellent, actually—at Firebending. I couldn't even bend her when I tried to move her out of the way!"

"Seriously," said Zuko, darkening. "This isn't helping."

"I'm just saying that you have to know the strengths of your opponent before you take her down. She won't think twice about killing you. You know that, right?"

When he didn't answer me, I started to worry.

"I'll worry about that when the time comes." Zuko said.

Apparently, that was the end of our discussion, for he headed back to the cave. When I glanced down to see what he had been looking at, I felt mixed emotion when I recognized the mask of the Blue Spirit hidden under the mess of the tangled roots of the tree.

From the baskets of goodies that Zuko had procured from the village, I had been able to make up a meal that was fit for a semi-king. Living in the wilderness, working with what was provided, you sort of became a culinary artist all on your own. By evening, Iroh was driven to exhaustion. He fell asleep by the campfire. Zuko was lost in thought beside me. I nudged him in the side with my elbow, gesturing for him to come with me. He frowned slightly, but he followed me anyway.

"I saw your mask," I said quietly, pointing in the direction of the tree.

"You're going to lecture me again, aren't you?"

"No," I said honestly.

He cocked an eyebrow.

"Everything you're doing," I explained kindly, "is for your uncle and me. I stand by what I said when I joined you: I'll help you find the Avatar. But do you really want this?"

"_Yes._"

I sighed unhappily.

He took my hands in his and brought them to his chest.

"I have to find him. Now that I found out that he is alive, I feel like I have no other choice. Uncle doesn't think that it's my path. You don't either, but you're supposed to understand. You're a telekinetic—it's all about mind power, isn't it?"

"Well, I think these days, I'm being referred to as a 'Nova'," I said, aside from the point. He made a look of annoyance, but I smiled in spite of it. He lightened. By now, he knew when I was teasing him and when I was serious.

"You understand, don't you?" he muttered quietly.

The way he asked me the question was almost pleading. I felt myself melting in his arms, as I always did when he looked at me like that. I bit my cheek in contemplation. My silence deterred him slightly; for he frowned when I said nothing.

I saw his expression, and I sighed in quiet defeat.

"Zuko, whatever you want to do…I'm with you. Granted, I still think that trying to find the Avatar is a bit of a stretch, but if that's what you have to do then, yes, I understand."

Zuko smiled.

We embraced each other and a tender kiss.

I went back to the cave and lied on a blanket. I closed my eyes to fall asleep. Behind me, I felt Zuko lie down. An arm wrapped around my waist, and his hand entwined with mine. He set his head in the nape of my neck. I felt his mouth in the crook of my shoulder.

Well, I suppose I should end this by saying that the rest of the journey ended as special like this, cuddling and such. If I did, I would be lying.

As he and I lay together on the blanket, I thought I would feel happiness or joy. But I felt sad. The last time we were huddled close together, we were supposed to be separated. Inside, I should have been jumping for joy, but I wasn't.

I turned my head slightly. His golden eyes met mine.

"Zuko," I asked softly, "whatever you decide, I'll know that you're doing it for your own good." He looked at me with a confused expression. "I just want you to know that even if you capture the Avatar, and he so happens to be killed; I want you to know that I still…"

I faltered.

"Well," I muttered, "I'm glad that you found me on that island."

"Me too," he returned quietly.

"Are you?" I asked sadly.

I turned in his arms to face him.

"I get a lot of mixed signals, Zuko," I said openly. "I mean, it's like if I never existed, you would have the Avatar. If you hadn't come to my island, you would have probably caught the Avatar. And I—"

Zuko lured my head to him with a hand under my chin. He silenced me with a kiss—it wasn't as tender as the last. This one was more passionate. It left my speechless. He made a small smile, and he placed my hand over his heart.

"I saw you get angry during my fire duel with Zhao. You lost your temper with Azula when she tried to kill me. You lost your mind when you thought that I was dead."

"How is this supposed to make me feel better?" I asked dryly.

Zuko chuckled lightly, but then his face looked serious.

"I saw what Zhao did to you at the North Pole," he said quietly.

I felt my expression falter between being touched and feeling helpless. His face expressed a torrent of anger. I realized that he was explaining something to me, so I stayed silent.

"And when you helped us in the South Pole when the Avatar damaged my ship, and you were unconscious, I thought that I had lost you…" he continued calmly. "And when I saw Azula burn your arms, I thought that you would have left us, since I didn't listen to you."

"Why are you telling me this, Zuko?" I asked sadly.

"I realized that your feelings for me," he said hesitantly, "are as strong as my feelings about you…"

I smiled and nudged him playfully in the shoulder.

"I knew you liked me."

I set my head on his chest. And we fell asleep like that.

If only it could have stayed that way.

The next day, Zuko went out of town to do his Blue Spirit duties. Iroh and I went out on a walk. When we came back, the cave was filled with…well, everything.

Iroh sat in front of a gold tea pot, inspecting it suspiciously.

"Looks like you did some serious shopping," he said. "But where did you get the money?"

Zuko avoided the question,

"Do you like your new teapot?"

"To be honest with you," Iroh said calmly, "the best tea tastes delicious whether it comes in a porcelain pot or a tin cup."

Iroh walked over to Zuko, who was sitting with his back against the wall of the cave. He continued his assuring words with a gentle voice,

"I know that we've had some difficult times lately. We've had to struggle just to get by. But it's nothing to be ashamed of. There is a simple honor in poverty."

Zuko shook his head.

"There's no honor for me without the Avatar."

Iroh sighed patiently,

"Zuko, even if you did capture the Avatar, I'm not so sure that it would solve our problems. Not now."

"Then there is no hope at all," Zuko said abruptly.

Iroh grabbed his retreating shoulder.

"No, Zuko," he said quickly. "You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you will surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something that you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength."

Zuko looked back at Iroh expressionlessly, turned his back to us, and walked out of the cave without another word. I sadly sighed and sat against the wall, cupping my face in my hands. Iroh's hand set on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Mura. He'll find his way…somehow."

"If that's true," I muttered, looking at him, "why do I feel so bad?"

"You're his girlfriend, Mura. You're nearly part of the family. It is understandable why you think that you should be able to make him feel better. He speaks to you when sometimes I can't get him to talk to me. I think that he will understand his destiny later down the line. He just needs time."

Later that evening, I realized that my feelings of loneliness existed for a reason. Zuko came to us with a packed bag. I had anticipated this; even so, I felt the keen sting of a loved one preparing to leave.

"Uncle," said Zuko softly, "I thought a lot about what you said."

Iroh glanced at him,

"You did? Good, good."

Zuko stated without malice but also without hesitation,

"It's helped me realize something. We no longer have anything to gain by traveling together. I need to find my own way."

Before Zuko left, he turned to me. Evidently, pain was something that I couldn't hide.

"You're leaving." I said. It wasn't exactly a question. And there was no surprise. It was more of a painful observation.

"I have to make this journey alone," said Zuko.

I glanced at his uncle; he didn't show any sign of stopping him.

"Okay…" I muttered unhappily. I walked up to Zuko and kissed him on the cheek. "Whatever happens…" I said quietly.

He nodded in understanding.

As Zuko turned to leave, Iroh called for him to wait a minute. He untethered the ostrich horse and placed the reins in Zuko's hands. Zuko gave looked at each of us once, and then he shook the reigns and galloped away. Iroh slumped slightly in sadness.

"I'll make dinner, General," I said gingerly then I turned my back and walked toward the cave.


	9. Better, Faster, Stronger

The Highest Bidder

Chapter Nine: Better, Faster, Stronger

During my shared time with Iroh, I learned a few things about my powers from him. He knew quite a bit about my gift; I'm not sure how he came to be so knowledgeable about psychokinesis, or even how he came to understand anything about it. I accepted the possibility that in his vague journeys to the Spirit World, he had actually met Shen Si Ling, and that she had passed on a few quick tips to him in the middle of his adventures.

Iroh wasn't numb or without feeling after Prince Zuko left us to find his way. In fact, he seemed to take a strong interest in my well-being. Because we were secluded from the village or any person, Iroh took the opportune moment to help me meditate. We did this for several hours, only stopping for meal times. Iroh was trying to bridge the gap between my temper and Shen Si Ling's portal. Although it was helpful at times when I was in eminent danger that my spirit would fly in to protect me, it was becoming increasingly hostile whenever I would just get irritated.

I'm not saying that Zuko's leave had affected me to the point of mental instability—if it did, I wouldn't have my powers today. But it was very sad to see him go, and evidently, my emotions were high; hence, the meditation and the bridge from the Spirit World to mortal world had to be connected in a stable condition. Iroh understood my pain. He wasn't out of the loop of the turmoil that was inside me. I was feeling a separation loss, and he sympathized.

Iroh made tea every day in order to give me peace of mind. While in a torrent of devastation, it was very dangerous for me to use my gift at all; he knew this.

"Shen Si Ling," he began calmly, pouring me a cup of tea, "is the overseeing spirit of the mind, body, and soul. With that, you are given a natural order of right and wrong, and she gives you the understanding of justice; however, your soul and your body are linked to the adversary of justice, which is vengeance, rage, and misunderstanding. This isn't too different from how the Avatar must open the seven chakras in his body to enter the Avatar State."

"So," I said, puzzled, "I'm conflicted."

"In more ways than one, my dear," he added with a slight smile. "Everything that you do: sound, thought, sight, smell, taste, and touch are linked between you and the Mind Spirit. She acts as a maternal parent; for she alone knows the burden that you bear. As I've said time and time again, Shen Si Ling is a vengeful spirit. Right and wrong have always battled each other; exceptions are connected with strong emotion and loyalties. That's why you debate with Zuko often: you know the Avatar is a needed component in the world; and you know that the Fire Nation is not as grand as the Fire Lord makes it out to be. You understand these things because the spirit understands. She's reaching out to you, hoping that you will assist the Avatar."

"So that is my destiny," I muttered quietly. "I was never meant to help Zuko. I have to find Aang, and help him…"

"Not necessarily," said Iroh, shaking his head. "You were meant to help my nephew, but not in his mission to find Avatar Aang. He has had a troubling childhood, and he struggles between right and wrong; it's in his nature. You are his girlfriend, Mura; but in more ways than one, you are his conscience."

"If all this sounds so great, then why do I feel like I'm spiraling out of control?" I asked, feeling helpless. "I blow up over the smallest thing; and when I do, it's like the whole world is going to crumble."

"You're human, like the rest of us," said Iroh. "It's natural to feel angry; however, your powers pend greatly on peace of mind. In the last year, you have felt such strong feelings that have corrupted your order within you. That's why you destroyed Kyoshi Island. That is why you lost your control when you thought that Zuko was killed. And, Mura, that is why you tried to kill Zhao."

"How do I keep her out?" I asked bluntly. "How do I keep Shen Si Ling at bay?"

Iroh sipped his tea.

"Well, actually, there is a logical solution," he said calmly. "When you are faced with danger, even so much as a fist fight your powers— or Shen Si Ling—react instinctively. Now, this is because it is in your nature to be unbiased; the spirit takes over your mind so that you can remain unbiased. She acts in your place because you do not possess the power or ability to handle your own."

I chuckled dryly.

"I've practiced telekinesis for sixteen years. It takes decades to master it."

"You are a very clever, skillful girl, Mura. The only way to keep Shen Si Ling from taking over is to master a level of psychokinesis that gives you the strength to handle your own in a fight."

So the next week, I concentrated for hours at a time to develop my skills to a higher level of psychokinesis. It was painful, but I managed obtain new abilities: all of which, Iroh explained to me easily through his knowledge of the spirit world. I actually started to wonder what the hell happened to him there; but, I digressed.

I had developed the ability of hemokinesis. With this technique, I telekinetically could prevent an injured or bleeding victim from external bleeding or internal hemorrhaging. My manipulating the circulation of blood flow around the injury and forcing an appropriate amount of blood plasma to the area, I could cause blood vessels to clot, effectively staunching and control the bleeding until effective medical means were applied. Obviously, I couldn't heal the damage that was done, but any damage that could result from blood loss would be prevents for as long as my powers were maintained. I actually stumbled across this when I had fallen off a tree, trying to do—and succeeding only temporarily—the next thing that I was able to do.

Because I could levitate people, I tried levitating myself. It was a crude form of flight, and although it felt like I was actually flying, I found it a bit difficult to remain focused whilst I was hovering 60 feet off the ground. But, nevertheless, I worked on it.

Iroh and I worked on my combat skills three hours a day. Because I was more able-bodied in evasive maneuvering, his blows often missed. However, when he come close to punching me square in the face, a force field was set in between us, and he punched air in front of me. I had developed a successful ability of a telekinetic shield. This would have been great in the past, but—alas, it was fortunate that I learned it anyway.

Iroh encouraged me to focus on objects all around me, to lift them into the air, so he could see just how powerful I could become. The loose bushes, trees, thistles, and flowers had lifted off the ground, and they swirled around me like a telekinetic tornado. Although these things flew around me crazily, I wasn't hurt by them. Iroh had told me that I had developed the ability of a telekinetic storm.

So, with all these things that I could do, I felt more in control of my gift, which, as you will find out, helped me in the long run.

As Iroh worked with me, I could feel myself becoming stronger and less dependent on Shen Si Ling; Iroh showed me that because my powers were linked between positive and negative energy, not just molecular concentration, I was honed to do things that I never thought I could do.

"Telekinesis," said Iroh, "is more than just mind-over-matter. It is a form of psychic ability, and if you open your mind to the possibilities, you can allow yourself to do a number of practical applications that can allow you to be more than just a girl who can move things with her mind."

"But I _am_ mind-over-matter," I said, though amused.

"In the definition of how the Fire Nation has labeled you, you _are_ a girl who can move things with your mind; but in the Spirit World, you are more than that. You are capable of not just manipulating the objects around you, but the elements as well. You can bend water and earth if you remain in a lake or in a desert; that's all you have ever believed. But you are a determined young woman whose cleverness and intelligence exceeds the tacticians of the Fire Nation." Iroh smiled proudly. "I've seen your mind work, and it's a beautiful thing. However, since you joined my nephew and me, I've seen your mind closed, because you are absorbed with Zuko's safety."

Iroh told me that I had the ability to manipulate not just objects, but abstracts in the air. So for a day, we merely worked on meditation and intense concentration. Because telekinesis was a form of energy, I was able to alter sound energy. I manipulated my body to psychic silence: the ability to manipulate sound to a muted volume; but I could only mute myself. I also developed a knack for ventriloquism, able to throw my voice to a nearby location. However, I was extremely new to this, so my muted sounds were like a muffled footstep, and my ventriloquism was merely used for amusement purposes.

Iroh told me that although I had to keep in physical contact with water and earth; flame manipulation was merely bending a beating energy in front of me. Although I couldn't produce it like Firebenders, I had the ability to concentrate or throw flame: a common torch could become a blow torch if I tried hard enough. I could cause a campfire to leap out in one direction, sending a tendril of hot, concentrated fire several paces to strike an opponent. I could only manipulate it, not create it.

And lastly—and this probably shocked me more than anything (no pun intended)—Iroh included me on a little secret that I could manipulate lightning. As he had told me before, lightning was a product of a negative energy and positive energy crashing into each other. Since my powers were a form of negative and positive energy, I could manipulate lightning bolts out of the energy that was inside me all the time. The first time that I created lightning, it was invigorating but petrifying. I had picked up the ability almost disturbingly fast. Because I could manipulate it, I was also granted the secondary ability, which was to redirect it. Iroh didn't shoot lightning at me, but I pretty much figured the system out when a thunderstorm granted me the chance to demonstrate how it was done.

I was singed the first time. The second time, I gave it back.

After training my mind, Iroh thought it would be a good chance to train my body.

"Your mind treats your body like a temple," said Iroh, standing me up as we walked out of the cave. "It doesn't want your body to be harmed, and when it is, your powers react on any way it can to undo what has been done. Because of this, your powers suffer when you experience pain because you are not used to feeling agony in your body. That's why you couldn't fight when Zhao was beating you in the North Pole; that's why you couldn't use your powers in the Fire Temple when the soldiers put the scars on your forehead; and why you couldn't retaliate when Azula scorched your arms."

Iroh stood in front of me.

"You are an expert at evasive maneuvering, Mura; your flexibility and agility are your greatest feats, but you are easily taken down when you are ambushed. Assume the fighter stance."

I obeyed.

He walked around me once. Iroh held my wrists and placed them according to how he saw fit. He set my left hand close to my neck; and with my other, he placed it further from my body, in front of my stomach.

"Your mind is the most important factor, so you must protect it from melee attacks or projectiles. Azula knows this, so she will try everything she has to distract you. Your body," he said, indicating his pointed lecture by nudging my arms with the back of his hand, "is the tool that you can use against your opponent to protect your mind; you have to stay guarded and keep your attackers at bay. Okay, relax."

I dropped my stance.

"I know," he continued, "that Zuko is talented with duel Dao swords. He was taught by the Fire Nation sword master, Piandao, in his childhood before he challenged my brother in an Agni Kai. Piandao is an excellent teacher in swordsmanship and," he added with a sly smirk, "an old friend of mine."

Iroh handed me a cup of tea.

"Master Piandao used to serve in the military before he deserted his ranks."

"Why did he leave?" I asked curiously.

"He grew tired of the ways of war and left to seek enlightenment." Iroh explained briefly. "The reason that I mention him is because you should learn how to use other forms of offense and defense. You cannot be solely dependent on your gift, however powerful they may be."

"Zuko tried to teach me," I said matter-of-factly. "It didn't take."

"Zuko is an excellent swordsman, Mura," Iroh confirmed, "but he didn't have the patience to teach you because your mind and body rejected his methods. Piandao is acceptable of many people, Mura, but you must prove your worth to him if you want to be his student."

"I didn't say that I would learn from him," I said hotly. "Iroh, what makes you think that he'll teach me at all? We're fugitives…"

Iroh didn't seem too worried.

"Piandao is a Fire Nation citizen; but his art is learned by all four nations."

I frowned slightly.

"Fine…" I shrugged. "But I swear to Shen Si Ling that if he attacks me—"

"He won't," Iroh said sweetly. "He's quite a way from where we are now. You need to make this journey alone."

"_What?_" I stepped away from him. "_You're not coming with me?_ Why did you mention this if you weren't coming with me? Why is everyone _leaving?_"

"Mura," Iroh said consolingly, "I have to find Zuko. I know that he does not want me around; but when he needs me, I will be there for him. You are the closest connection that he has had to a woman; he will understand if you don't return with me."

"_Why would I not come back?"_ I said frantically.

Iroh smiled as if he was amused.

"You need to learn how to defend yourself when your mind cannot do so. Simple fist fighting won't protect you against an army of soldiers…or Azula. You must create a skill that outmatches her in another way."

I frowned deeply.

"Here," he withdrew a map from his bag. "I've marked Piandao's location. He resides in Shu Jing."

I looked at the map quickly to see how far I'd have to travel. He was an ocean away from Makapu village where June had taken us to search for Katara and Aang. It wasn't a bad travel if I flew there via self-levitation. Iroh withdrew a token from his pocket. He took my hand and placed it in my palm.

"When you approach the master's house, his butler will answer. When he asks for something that you should offer, give him this."

I examined it and recognized what it was.

"What is it with you and the white lotus tile?" I asked tiredly.

"Pai Sho," said Iroh with the same sly smile "is more than just a game, my dear."

I returned his smile.

"Well, I suppose I should go then?" I asked, suddenly feeling sad.

"We will meet again," he said assuredly. "When the time is right, we will."

He pulled me in for a big bear hug. I embraced him, wrapping my hands around his neck.

"And you can stop calling me 'General'," he added as we separated. "I'm a retired man. Call me Iroh."

He waved goodbye. I waved back. He walked one way. And I walked the other.


	10. The Master

A/N: Readers, what Mura's weapon is going to be is called a Naginata. To understand what its use is, copy the link _ watch?v=0BIsRwpume4_ and you'll see a practice demonstration. It's awesome stuff; I enjoyed reading about it.

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Ten: The Master

I journeyed to Shu Jing, a separate island off the coast of a sheltered cove, and separated by large ocean. I followed Iroh's directions on the map in order to get to the home of the master swords man, but I have to admit that when I arrived there, it was nothing as I had expected. You see, I had been expecting a rundown blacksmith's inn or something less noticeable. Obviously, my standards of greatness had dropped.

When I came upon Piandao's abode, it was actually a castle sitting on a large bluff. The front gates were enormous, and they held two large knockers on the front doors. Although I hesitated, I still believed that Iroh knew what he was talking about; so I tapped the knocker a few times. I waited for a few minutes. Then the right door opened. A man dressed in fine clothes looked at me apathetically with a painfully bored expression on his face. By the way he looked at me; I would have guessed easily that he was the butler. (And I was right.)

"Can I help you?" he said just as apathetically as he looked.

"I was referred to Master Piandao," I told him briefly.

"You're a woman," he said curiously.

"My, you're observant," I retorted involuntarily.

"The master tutors many young men," explained the butler with an infliction of his voice on the word '_men_'. "Whether you were referenced here or not, you should know that the master turns almost everyone away."

"That sounds a bit rehearsed," I said dryly.

"I see that you don't have any trouble stating your mind," sniffed the butler.

"Comes with the package," I shrugged.

"Well," he held out his hand, "What did you bring him to prove your worth?"

I remembered what Iroh had told me. I withdrew the white lotus tile from my robes and placed it in his palm. The butler took it; apparently it meant something, for he quirked an interested eyebrow and observed it meticulously.

"Who did you say referred you to Master Piandao?" asked the butler carefully.

"I didn't," I answered curtly.

"Well, who gave this to you?"

"To be honest, it's a piece from a board game. I imagine that it's not exactly the rarest thing in the world since it's a board game."

"Could you wait for a moment while I talk to Piandao?"

"All right…"

He waved me in anyway and instructed me to stay put until he came back. As the butler trotted off through the courtyard and entered the two double doors, I got a good look at the landscape around the master's castle. He obviously enjoyed the rock gardening as any other elderly man; and cleanliness certainly wasn't a strange topic. To my surprise, when the butler returned, the master was with him, carrying a sword at his hip.

He approached me with little to say, observing me. I felt my face burn under his scrutiny. He offered me the white lotus tile silently, which I grabbed cautiously from his hand.

"You're Mura," he said after a long, unbearable silence.

"Am I that recognizable?" I said as I pocketed the tile in my robes.

"You're the only person that I've ever heard of who has that much blonde hair," he said, folding his arms. "Who sent you here? The last I heard, you were traveling with the Fire Nation Prince."

I stared at him suspiciously.

"Iroh said that you and he are friends…"

"I figured he would have sent you; his nephew was a brilliant student…a little hot-tempered, though. This is somewhat puzzling, considering the circumstances. With your abilities, why would you want to consider using a weapon?"

"You're testing me," I said simply, watching him.

He stroked his goatee.

"I'm actually curious as well."

"My defenses are weak," I explained gently. "Recently, I discovered that I can't rely on mind alone for protection. I have a lot of power, but I have weaknesses too. I have to be able to defend myself even if my powers are terminated."

"What exactly do you seek from me, though, Mura? Iroh is a talented man; why don't you learn from him?"

"Fist fights can only last me so long, Sir," I said.

"You admit openly to me that you have many weaknesses." Piandao said quietly. "That's not exactly giving me a reason to teach you if you think that you don't have strength."

"I have strength," I retorted, slightly offended. I calmed when he gave me a look. "Just…too much of it, I guess."

"You understand your mind, then," said Piandao gently.

"I'm not even sure that I do," I answered truthfully.

"I don't train many women, Mura."

I looked at him quickly.

"Then train me like a man."

He smirked.

"I can definitely tell that you've met Zuko." His eyes lingered on me. "How is he doing these days?"

"He went away," I said quietly. "He's a bit lost."

"Then I guess we should get this over with," said Piandao, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, "if you want to catch up to him, then."

Believe it or not, I thought it was going to be much harder to convince him to accept me as a pupil, but apparently my affiliation with Iroh and my admittance to my various weaknesses had won him over. When Piandao invited me into his castle, I was more amazed with the architecture than I had ever been since I was in the Fire Nation Capital. I could tell that he came from Fire Nation stock, but he and I shared the same equal understanding of the Four Nations. Also, I appreciated the fact that he didn't try to attack or something to prove that I was Mura Lynn.

Piandao had his butler, whose name was Fat, make lemonade in the back of the kitchen while the master was informing me of the basic introduction of swordsmanship. When he asked me what weapon I was interested in, I drew a blank.

"The reason that I ask," said Piandao, "is because not everyone accepted the Jian sword as their extended arm. Even Prince Zuko preferred the duel Dao swords to the straight sword."

I shrugged uncertainly.

"You're the master," I said respectfully. "Don't you think that you would know what I'd be good at instead me making that decision."

He gave me an amused smile.

"Because you're a telekinetic, and not a bender, you would need a weapon that matches the personality of your mind, body, and soul. You're gifted with grace and a natural balance; evasive maneuvering is a great attribute in your fighting style."

"Are you telling me this or are you studying me?"

He beckoned me to follow him into the next room. He showed me a weapon that was similar to a pole arm. He indicated it with his hand.

"You must protect your head and body from projected offense, but you must be able to use your opponents' strengths against them. You are very quick on your feet. With your sixth sense, you Spatial Sense, you know your footing and surroundings at all times; and if you were to go blind temporarily, you would always remember the scene because you have an eidetic memory."

I stared at him.

"Master, I can't help but think that you're not actually training me, but merely _talking _to me."

Piandao faced away from the weapon and turned to face me.

"An amateur must learn resourcefulness, flexibility, and be able to think outside the box. They must be able to understand things that happen in an instant because they won't that much time to make a decision on the battlefield. Fortunately," he added, "you are actually given these warrior traits because you are a telekinetic. General Iroh informed me long ago about your prowess."

He turned back to the weapon.

"Mura, this is a Naginata," he said. "It a bladed weapon with a long shaft; it resembled a pole to the naked eye, but when it is unsheathed"—he pulled the case off the blade—"it becomes something else entirely. The Naginata is considered to be a woman's weapon. It gives considerable advantage to keep the enemy at a safe distance."

He demonstrated by holding it out in front of him; I stepped back to avoid that sharp blade at the end.

"You," he continued, "are at a disadvantage when your enemies approach you closely; you're far more deadly from afar. The sword is very well balanced and weighted, and its way of fighting is very graceful, due to the circular performance of the Naginata sword."

He handed it to me, palms up. I took it in my hands and observed it with strong interest.

"Naginata," continued Piandao, "is a combat system that teaches respect, patience, etiquette, self-confidence, and self-control. The practice educates perfect control and balanced movements. It requires art, discipline, and concentration in order to reach the grace and effectiveness of the movements. It established a person's character by developing a moral code of honor."

"_Again_, with the honor code," I said, disgruntled.

"You don't like _honor?_" said Piandao, obviously misunderstanding.

"Sorry," I said quickly. "I—Well, it's just—Relationship issues…"

"The Prince again, hm?"

I shrugged, attempting to look casual. Piandao nodded in stern understanding. He withdrew the Naginata from my hands and replaced it on the display.

"Before you handle this weapon, you must know your body, and know your limitations; then dare to stretch your horizons."

"I'm connected to a spirit," I said with a smile. "I don't think my horizon could stretch anymore."

"You'd be surprised, young pupil."

He beckoned me to follow again. He led me out to the courtyard.

"Before you learn how to fight, you must reinforce the basics of a swords man. Under my tutelage, you must refrain from using your powers; even if your temper spikes, you must learn to control it. Control is in the fighting style that you will implement. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Secondly, you must do everything that I tell you to do."

"I thought that was sort of a given," I said gently, looking at him.

"I'm just making sure that you know every rule. There will be no misunderstandings here."

"Right. Yes, Sir," I retorted.

"For the training exercises, I will have you do six things while you are here in my castle. First, you will dance."

I stared at him incredulously.

"_Dance?_"

"Ballroom dance, actually."

"Could you at least tell me why I would be doing something like that? I'm all for dancing, but that doesn't exactly make me a better warrior, does it?"

"There is a lot more to dance than just having a good time, Mura. There's a lot that you do not know. Ballroom dancing implements the skill of knowing hand-to-foot placement and smooth body movement at all times. It is a key factor in using the Naginata, lest you accidentally smack yourself with it."

"Right," I muttered.

"You will be blindfolded in the dark, which will increase awareness and prevent the element of surprise. Iroh informed me that you're…quite jumpy."

"It happens on occasion," I muttered.

"Afterwards," he pressed on, sounding entertained, "we will spar for extended periods of time, with little rest and no breaks. This will increase self-control and raise your endurance. Then you will fight my butler."

"Fat?" I asked curiously. "You want me to fight your butler? _Why?_"

"Using the Naginata influences respect and etiquette; when you are fighting an inferior opponent, you cannot kill or strike them when they're down." He gave me a pointed look. "It's fair play, which more than defines that order of your powers.

"Afterwards," he continued, looking at the magnificent splay of courtyard trimmings, "you will fight on the roof of my castle. The chances are falling are extremely high, so grace and balance are key elements in your battle formation."

I looked at him.

"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?"

He and I exchanged glances.

I smiled.

"Sorry, Master. I tend to tease a lot," I apologized, bowing.

"Yes," he said, clearing his throat, "well, let's begin, shall we?"


	11. Try and Try Again

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Eleven: Try and Try Again

When I first met Piandao, I had the impression that he had seen quite a few people who came all the way from their homelands, claiming themselves to be talented warriors, and that they sought out the master to better their skills. I think that the only reason why he didn't assume that I was there for pride was because somehow, Iroh had told him about me. I wondered just how Piandao knew Iroh. Although I could understand their affiliation via being connected to the Fire Nation, I was sure that there was something that he wasn't telling me. I also wondered if he knew others in the world that weren't connected to the Fire Nation either. What I liked about Piandao was that he didn't automatically judge me as a fugitive, nor did he treat me like royalty. He left his treatment up to me, which I admired almost instantly. Since he rarely tutored women, I at first thought that he was going to pretend that I was this weak underling. He proved me wrong.

At dawn, he gave me a dress of clothes that personified me to be his student rather than the Earth Kingdom refugee. Black robes, tied with a gold lancelets, and black wrappings. They were beautiful, and I openly complimented them. For morning lessons, Piandao had me stretch often, emphasizing that each muscle was important and fatigue and weariness would weaken me in the long run. We stepped out onto the courtyard to do these warm-ups.

After stretches, he led me into a very open room with marbled floors and decorative walls. Piandao handed me a swift cup of tea; he drank one in his hand. Fat, his butler, entered the room, carrying a violin. Piandao removed his sword from his hip and set it against the wall.

"Your first lesson," he pointed out as Fat started to play the stringed instrument.

"Dancing," I repeated, and I heard the skepticism in my voice as I said it.

"The Naginata is not a form to jump into so crudely, my doubtful pupil," he said. "It's not like practicing the bending disciplines. It takes more than just learning how to squat, breathe, and feel the sun."

I repressed a smirk. He stepped in front of me.

"The Jian sword is like an extended part of a body, an extra arm. The Duel Dao swords are not separate weapons, but are part of a whole. The Naginata is an assisted body," he continued as he started to walk around me, as if to observe. "It is a weapon that can be used to block _and_ to strike, but you must know when to do which. Any hesitation can result in your permanent end."

"That's comforting," I retorted, looking over my shoulder.

"The Naginata," he continued as if to ignore what I had said, "requires the use of hand-to-hand coordination. It's not simple footwork. A single step out of line can render you defenseless. So that is why you must know where each of your limbs is located at all times. Dancing is not just an expression of art and soul; it focuses the body are footwork, fluidity, and prediction."

Piandao stopped his pacing. He offered his hand to me, which I took nonchalantly, still curious about the entire lesson. He pulled me toward him with a sudden jerk, and I cried out in shock. I stumbled toward him; he caught me.

"Now, see, you weren't listening at all," he said, setting me on my feet. "I said it's about prediction. You should predict your opponent's actions. Know your boundaries."

He offered his hand to me again. I looked at it uncertainly and outstretched my hand to his. He simply held it for a second then he guided me to him. I felt my entire body start to shake with apprehension. Every time that I thought that he was going to pull me, I jerked slightly. He looked at me with a curious expression, but apparently my anxiety was evident…everywhere.

"You're starting to sweat." Piandao stated calmly.

"_Okay," _I said hotly, pulling away. "_So I'm a bit jumpy; it's your fault!"_

He sighed.

"Do not lose your temper," he chastised.

I frowned, realizing that I had snapped at him.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly with a shrug. "I'm paranoid. I think you're going to push me or something."

"I only pulled you once," he reminded me patiently.

"Maybe that's all it took," I retorted grumpily.

"You will fail many times, pupil." Piandao stated flatly. "And you will do this over and over; but you have to try every time." He offered me his hand again. "Shall we try again?"

I took his offered hand; his fingers tightened and pulled me. I pulled back. He didn't stumble like I had, but he merely stepped forward and smiled.

"You learn fast," he said approvingly.

He put an arm around my waist; and I set my hand on his shoulder. We rocked back and forth on the marble floor. Fat started to play his violin in the corner of the room. I started to understand what Piandao meant about footwork and prediction. He led the dance, of course, but every once in a while, he'd move off course, causing me to stumble and lose my balance. He didn't chastise, but he knew that I realized my errors once they happened. He twirled me slowly in a slow dance.

"You must always know what your opponent is doing when your back is turned," he said. "You didn't have to know this skill because your powers react on defense. But without them—" he twirled me and as I came back, he stepped out of the way, and I fell to the floor with a thud—"you leave yourself open for error."

I looked up at him irritably.

"I realize just how helpful Shen Si Ling is now…" I muttered through the mess of my hair.

"The Spirit gives you great power, yes," he said. He squatted beside me. "But she also leaves you extremely vulnerable."

"Some gift," I hissed, getting to my feet.

"Yes," Piandao said; a light chuckle emitted afterward. "Shall we dance again?"

"Yes," I answered.

We went another round, except this time, it was not a classic waltz like before. It was a formation of Bagua and Northern Shaolin in synchronization. In other words, it's much like what the school students saw in the Fire Nation Academy where Aang and Katara "danced". These aren't dance moves, but compiled with music, it does look like an acrobatic dance, compressed with many martial arts movements. When Piandao was teaching me, I intimated these moves effectively, though I didn't do these things with perfection. Although I'm a talented acrobat (somersaults, cartwheels etc., etc.) my formations were off, considering that my partner was not the same height as me like Zuko or Iroh. Piandao towered over me at least half a foot taller than I was used to. After our lesson, Piandao and I rested on the edge of the porch in the courtyard where Fat made lunch. As we ate, Piandao went over the lesson with me.

"Your flexibility and agility, coupled with your youth, gives you the upper hand in a fight against an older man," he said. "However, as you saw today, your opponents will not always be your height. The Naginata is more than just a sword stuck in a staff; it's prompted grace and balance, two things that you have—but when you are pulled off in distraction, you are vulnerable to harm and injury. The Naginata is meant to assist you in fighting taller, stronger opponents. While you move behind it, it protects you from the waist, down."

He drank his lemonade.

I nodded in understanding.

"Out of curiosity," I began, "how _do _you know General Iroh?"

"He's a friend," Piandao answered.

"I reckon that he's an ally as well."

"Because he sent you here? Seems a bit judgmental."

"I'm an enemy of the Earth Kingdom, and a fugitive from the Fire Nation."

"Who isn't, these days?" replied Piandao. "Mura, you're not the first person to come to me who was escaping the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom. You won't be the last. The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Iroh knows this. I was _honored_ to accept you as my student."

"But you have knowledge that I've never known," I retorted.

"Iroh is more than just a retired general," said Piandao. "Not everything is as simple as it seems. You should know that after today's lesson." He cleared his throat. "You're paranoid, too." I looked at him with a bored expression.

"Tell me something that I don't know," I retorted.

"It's understandable," he said gently. "All that power and the people who befriend you want to use it against you. It gets old, I imagine."

"You have no idea," I muttered.

"Everyone except the Fire Nation prince," said Piandao lightly.

"Yep," I quipped.

"Well," he sighed, "let's move on to the next lesson, then."

I shrugged and followed him back inside.

I knew what was coming up next; he made it a point to remind me that I was paranoid for a reason, I realized. We strode back into the large, empty room. Darkness appeared to me from the inside; Piandao wrapped a handkerchief around my eyes.

"You can sense your opponents around you; you know that they are there," he said in my ear. "But in the dark, these powers only cause you anxiety. Learn to use your senses, rather than your psychokinesis to hear your opponent. When your sight is impaired, the rest of your senses increase. Hear, smell, and touch."

He guided me forward and then I heard the door close.

Silence blanketed me. I could hear my own breathing.

"Calm yourself," his voice stated. "In the dark, the enemy can hear just as well as you can. Elude him."

"Elude you." I said flatly.

"Concentrate," he said.

His voice was around me, and I couldn't pinpoint him. I stayed quiet. A ringing in my ears temporarily disabled me. Then I heard a flap of clothing to my right. I stepped back. To my left, a brush against the violin…

"There are two people in here," I said aloud.

"Good, good."

The echo of the violin's thrummed strings died away.

"Where am I, Mura?"

"Behind me."

"Are you sure?"

A hand tapped my wrist; a second touched my back—I jerked away each time. Then the magical thing that was my imagination started to create images in my head. Who could be in the room with me that I didn't know about? Azula…A pirate…the Pirate Captain…Iroh…Zuko…A terrifying monster… _Ozai…_Zhao…

Hands grabbed me from the dark from around my waist; I heard myself scream, startled. The darkness turned into extreme brightness.

Piandao released me from his grip and looked at me.

"Well," he said, "for what it's worth, you have excellent lungs."

He massaged his temple with the on-set of a growing headache.

I smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Sir. You scared me."

"Obviously. Why did you panic?"

"That's a stupid question." I said flatly, crossing my arms.

"If you knew it was me, why did you scream?"

"You know why!" I retorted hotly, "_You said I was paranoid; I'm paranoid!_"

Piandao considered me with a look of apathy.

"You're frightened," he said. "It's all right to be afraid; but you can't let fear grip you."

"_I'm not afraid of you!"_

"Then, tell me, Mura, what frightens you?"

"No one," I lied nervously.

He doubted that.

"The imagination is limitless," he began calmly. "When one fears the dark, it tries to think of the possibilities of fear until it permeates on the person that one is afraid the most. Who frightens you?"

"It doesn't matter," I said quickly. "He's dead anyway."

"Fear is an abstract concept, like love. Love doesn't die. It always comes back in the form of new love. This person that you fear, he is dead. But who frightens you now?"

I gritted my teeth.

"Even I say," I said, turning to look at him, "it doesn't matter. There's nothing that I can do about it, so why bother?" When he said nothing, I sighed in defeat. "It's the Fire Lord. Fire Lord Ozai; he scares me."

Piandao smiled,

"For obvious reasons." He set a hand on my shoulder. "Acceptance will help you in your journeys, my pupil. Accept your fears, but don't accept the weakness that they give you. How about we move on to the next lesson, hm?"

He handed me a practice, wooden Naginata. It was a foot taller than me, and the blade was merely a sharpened, wooden spear. He strode in front of me.

"I will teach you the basic stances; afterwards, if I feel that you are ready, I will leave you alone, so that you can practice moving with the practice Naginata. We will spar with the wooden ones. After which, if you are ready, I will let you make your own Naginata, and it will be yours to keep."

"That's excellent!" I said excitedly.

"I enjoy your enthusiasm," he said apathetically. "Let's begin."

He instructed me to hold it with the blade tip pointing behind me (or in this case, the very pointy end of the spear).

"This allows you to react quickly against your opponents' movements. Now, take the ready stance."

I followed his instruction, stepping back away from him so that I didn't accidentally hit him. He stepped behind me and moved my hands accordingly along the wooden staff, appropriating the distance between the wooden 'tang' and the remainder of the staff.

"This," he said, stepping away, "is the most suitable stance for offense or defense. It's common sense to pick up what you want to do once your opponent strikes. Raise it above your head, with the head of the Naginata behind you."

I did so.

"Mura, you're attacking somebody, not going fishing," he retorted, correcting the angle.

"Well, it does make a great fishing pole," I said quietly.

"This position," he pressed on with a semi-annoyed look on his face, "is the most advantageous in regards to speed, agility, and striking ability. It's easier to flee with the weapon sheathed, but unfortunately, that isn't the matter in your case.

"Now, lower the blade in front of you, so the tip is facing the floor and the end of the spear is behind your head."

I obeyed.

"This is utilized for defense and counterattack."

"Well, what if I'm attacked by more than one person?"

"We'll get to that, but right now, you barely know how to use this," he indicated the weapon in my hands with a lazy hand. "Now, turn your Naginata in a lateral position where the blade points behind you—_slowly!"_

He backed away as I swung the Naginata to his instruction. I carried out his order, nevertheless.

"This is the primary fighting stance which enables you to strike quickly."

"But," I objected, lowering my weapon, "you said that I had to wait for the opportune moment to strike—respect and manners and all that jazz."

He gave me a serious frown.

"You'll find that etiquette isn't really a good call if a wild beast decides to make you his dinner for her starving cubs."

"Ahh, right," I said, feeling my face burn. Then I smiled slightly. "I like your morbid sense of humor."

"I wasn't joking."

"Oh." I bit my tongue.

Master Piandao grabbed a wooden katana sword from the weaponry rack and stepped in front of me.

"Your weapon," he continued, "is a multi-purpose tool. The unique aspect about the Naginata is that it can be used as a Bo, a Sword, and a Spear. This gives you a hitting, cutting, and thrusting capability. When you are attacking, you must bear in mind that defense is not just a secondary concept. Offense _and_ defense are both primary priorities in your mind."

He raised his weapon.

"If I come at you from the side"—he slowly lowered his sword; I blocked his strike, but he grabbed the pole of my weapon and pulled it forward. Our weapons were crossed; his face was merely inches from mine—"you must be prepared that I will try to protect myself as well."

He released my Naginata and ordered me to get in the ready stance.

"You're shaking again," he pointed out, indicating my hands holding the weapon.

"Look, I was never meant to actually _fight_ in battle," I said defensively. "I was born to use my powers so that I wouldn't have to resort to doing that."

"Well, that's not pep talk," said Piandao. "But you certainly aren't denying your weakness." He clicked his tongue. "Perhaps Iroh was wrong. Perhaps you're not strong. Perhaps you're actually weaker than you thought."

"You're playing me," I said, crossing my arms. "That's not nice."

"Well," he sighed, "what's the point of teaching you when you're not going to listen?"

"I _do_ listen."

"Whatever you say," he shrugged and turned to walk out the door. "It's a pity that you can't show just how powerful you are without using your powers. Maybe Ozai was right. Maybe you _are weak…_"

"_I'M NOT WEAK!" _

The Naginata left my hands and soared through the air toward Piandao.

He ducked just in time; the wooden weapon rammed into the door and embedded the spear within. He looked at me.

"I didn't do that," I said quietly. "I didn't mean to."

He pulled the Naginata out of the door and handed it to me.

"Let the anger that drives your powers, drive your ambition, and you will do fine."

He gave me a small smile.

In the next few lessons, he helped me use the Naginata for defense. As he struck me, it was my duty in the session to block him, and to shove him away. He showed me three ways to defend each strike; and after quite a few splinters, I got the hang of it. Then he showed me offense. He informed me that it wasn't just my appeal to strike the object out of the hand of my opponent, but that I should target the body as well.

"Humans," he said as he used the Naginata spear as a pointer, "have several weaknesses in the body when unprotected. The Naginata is used so that you won't have to bend or flex in any drastic way." He flipped the spear so that the blade was pointed toward me. He grazed it along my knees and calves, then to my neck and shoulders, and to my rib cage. "If you cut each body part right, it halts your opponent. It obviously is a great distraction for a permanent end or a chance to flee."

"So," I said half-jokingly, "it would be in bad taste to use this to make somebody a eunuch, hm?"

After a slight after thought, he shrugged.

"In battle, you do whatever it takes to stay alive. However, during our sparring session, I would appreciate it if you refrain from doing so if the urge hits you."

I chuckled.

We sparred for hours on end. By the seventh session, I felt my energy dwindling as the sun started to set. Master Piandao, however, didn't even seem like he was tired. I used my wooden Naginata as support to stand up. Piandao approached me. With his wooden sword, he raised my chin for me to look up at him.

"The real Naginata is weighted," he said. "It requires endurance. If I were your enemy, I'd have killed you right now. During our session," he lowered his weapon, "you didn't exercise proper self-control. I like how you became confident in your agility, but with a poor stamina, even an old man can best a tempered youth."

"Then," I panted, "why—why didn't you tell me this—_before_ I got…tired?"

"You needed to learn on your own." Piandao said simply. "Come with me, Mura. Dinner is nearly ready."

During meal time, Piandao inspired the conversation to go a different direction that I had expected. It wasn't about the day's events so far or the war, or even about my powers.

"You spent an ample amount of time with Prince Zuko," said Piandao as he ate his crisped fish. He looked up at me, slightly startled, when I choked on my lemon chicken when he brought up the subject.

"_Yes," _I said with difficulty. I composed myself and smiled uncertainly. "He recruited me. Then he went away to find himself."

"And," said Piandao carefully, "this upsets you?"

I looked at him strangely.

"Why are you asking me about my love life?"

His face turned into delicate surprise.

"I…I didn't know that you and Prince Zuko were courting."

"Oh."

"Is that why you react so…oddly…when I bring him up?"

"Why do you bring him up? A master who deserted his nation's military for enlightenment…" I said without malice. "I'd figure he'd be interested in calligraphy or Pai Sho."

Piandao smiled warmly.

"I'm an old man, Mura. It's nice to know that people still fall in love even with a war going on. You and Prince Zuko were courting?"

"_Were_," I emphasized unhappily.

"Oh."

"It's sort of mutual agreement, I think…" I sighed. "He's hunting the Avatar, but lately, he's come into a battle of right and wrong; and he doesn't know the difference. And I guess that I really wasn't helping."

"You'll find that things happen for a reason," said Piandao.

"He had his reasons," I shrugged. "I'm sure that when he understands his destiny, things will be…all right again."

"Yes."

We finished dinner. Then he led me up several flights of stairs. He lifted a hatch and brought me atop of a balcony. Beside it was a precarious roof bridge. The surface was flat and wide enough to stand on with two feet, but an unequal balance could knock a person down and send them sliding down the roofing. Piandao grabbed my hand and pulled me over the balcony to stand on the roof bridge. I held on for dear life to him, looking over the roof to see just how far we were talking about. The sight made me dizzy.

"I'm not sure how they do it these days," said Piandao as he pried my arms away, "but I'm certain that enemies won't allow enduring hugs before they attack you." He handed me the wooden Naginata. "Use this as a balancing pole if you're so skittish."

I grabbed it from him and did as he told me.

"Are you calm?"

"Oh, I'm just peachy," I said sarcastically.

"Calm as ever, considering your smart mouth," he retorted. "You have the basic steps of offense and defense. If you fear falling, you will do whatever it takes to stop me from making that happen."

"It's not the fall that scares me," I admitted openly. "It's the splat at the end."

"Humorous," he noted. "At the ready, Mura."

Despite the growing anxious butterflies in my stomach, I did what he said. He came at me with his katana sword; I blocked him and kicked him aside. He easily collected balance. Piandao approached me carefully. He counterfeited a high strike, and when I readied to take it, he switched stances and smacked my stomach with his wooden sword. I cried out, more in shock than pain. The strike caused me to momentarily lose balance. I was about to tumble over, Piandao grabbed my arm; I swung to the left and lied on the balance beam, staring up at him.

"Predict my movements, Mura." Piandao lectured. "And prepare for a surprise attacks. Do you yield?"

I rose to my feet. We sparred again.

He swung his sword; I parried. He swung his leg; I caught his foot and pulled. He lost his footing and fell to the ground.

I flipped the Naginata, the tang pointed down at his neck.

"Yield."

He smiled.

"Good work."

To my surprise, he grabbed the spear and kicked my shin, flying me onto my back. He rose to his feet and looked down at me.

"Even though you may have won," he said, "don't always assume that your opponent is truly beaten."

He offered me the handle of my wooden Naginata, which I grabbed, and he helped me to my feet.

"You've had a very good day of training," he said, patting my back. "I think you're ready for a real weapon. When I give your Naginata, you will choose the steel of your blade, and decorate the staff as you like. Come with me, Mura. You've earned a spot of tea."


	12. A Lesson Well-Learned

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twelve: A Lesson Well-Learned

In the morning, Piandao had me get up earlier than yesterday morning; it wasn't even daybreak when he roused me from a deep sleep. He led me through the castle and out the courtyard, and he guided me under a shelter. After a quick look of my surroundings, I realized that this place was new to me, and more over: it was a blacksmith's workplace. I cleared my head, remembering that today; I was supposed to make my own weapon. Piandao apparently noticed that I momentarily blanked, for he rolled his eyes to express slight annoyance. He set a hand on the back of my shoulder and walked me to a table where an array of warrior tangs was neatly displayed. Each tang, or blade, was sized differently, made from separate metals, and took a different tone. I looked at them all with fascination.

"Your father," said Piandao "was a weaponry merchant for Fire Lord Ozai. I don't think that I have to name the steel that is in front of you."

"No need," I said matter-of-factly. I eyed one in particular; taking favor to a metal was subtly bronze and sharpened to an immediate tip. I indicated the metal with a hand; my choice apparently was either accurate or approving, for Piandao smiled at me.

"The steel is foraged in the Fire Nation mines nearby the Earth Kingdom capital, Ba Sing Se," informed Piandao, holding up the tang. "It is not made out of hard plate, but is almost as light as a feather, but _hard_ like the hide of Komodo Rhino." He handed me the blade carefully. "You are definitely your father's daughter."

I smiled proudly.

He motioned for me to come to the second table where there was second array; this time, the weapons were staffs. Once more, they varied from heights, metals, and weights. It took me a little longer to decide.

"Do you need some assistance?" he asked curiously from over my shoulder.

"Well," I said, opening up, "I know what each of these materials is, but I'm just a bit…indecisive. I mean, if I choose something lighter, what chances would I have that would give me the opportunity to flee. So I should go with the metal that is heaviest, which offers long-lasting sturdiness. However, if I choose the heaviest metal, how could I wield it then run?" I turned to him, confused. "It's like I should forge them all together."

Piandao understood my predicament.

"I'm glad you said that. Because," he led me to a separate table, "I was waiting for you to think it through, so I could show you this."

He handed me a baton-looking short staff. I looked at it, perplexed and doubtful.

"But all this time," I argued, "You've been teaching me how to use a full-length Naginata. This is nearly a third of my size."

Piandao took it into his hands, and he seemed to stretch it. It flipped out into a lateral position, as it came out of its retractable home. I was impressed as I looked upon it in amazement and satisfaction. Upon seeing the delight on my face, Master Piandao handed it to me.

"Your skills temper between agility and sturdiness," he said. "You are right: you have to be able to flee, but your weapon must outlast an opponent's endurance of his sword. So here, I give you the master of both specialties. When you attach your blade to the staff, it will look like a baton when sheathed, but a long sword if you take off its case. When it is expanded, the weight balances between the tang and the brunt of the spear, causing it to be equally balanced."

I nodded in understanding.

"But," I said quietly, "of all your pupils…why me?"

"Why did I choose you?" he smiled. "You'd have to go to an estranged island to find somebody who does not know your name. You are the well-known Nova in this country and the next. I give this to you because you need it most, and you deserve it."

"That's nice of you," I said.

"However," he continued, and his voice became grave and serious, "with this Naginata, I must ask you to not use your powers unless you absolutely _have_ to."

I stared at him.

"What?"

"Iroh was right," said Piandao gently. "Shen Si Ling acts in your stead when you are vulnerable. You must not give her the chance to act. The portal between you and the spirit world are linked when you open the gate by using your psychokinesis. If you wish to prevent such terrible things to happen, such as destroying Kyoshi Island, you must _try_ to keep your mind closed so she doesn't intrude."

I frowned, obviously unhappy.

"But," I objected kindly, "I have—"

Piandao shook his head; there was no arguing the point.

"Do not use your powers unless you have no other choice," said Piandao intensely. "I've seen your skills with this weapon. They are remarkable."

I sighed, once more feeling the defeat of my argument.

"Fine…" I muttered softly. "I won't use my powers…"

"Good, good." Piandao patted my shoulder. "Now, let's get started. You have a weapon to construct!"

Piandao mainly supervised on a stool while I incorporated the tang into the retractable staff. It was not an easy process. The tang wasn't supposed to be able to come out of the socket; in fact, it wasn't supposed to come out at all. And I also learned that blacksmithing was not an easy art; it was hardest that I ever worked on a single weapon, but I knew that in the end it was worth it. It had to boil under extremely high temperatures to stay sealed together, and after fighting Azula, a few burns weren't exactly painful. When I finished putting it together, then came my most anticipated moment of the making. Piandao handed me a chisel and a hammer, oil paints and other instruments to mark the Naginata as my own. When I finished, Piandao looked over it with a glint of amusement and approval in his eyes.

The entire staff had been painted black, aside from a yellow, engraved sentence that read all the way down the staff.

In laymen's terms: _Know your body. Know your limitations. And dare to stretch your horizon. _

Piandao nodded and handed it back to me.

"Now, let's see what exactly you've learned over the day."

He unsheathed his Jian sword and led me to the courtyard where we would duel for the first time with our true weapons.

It was the most nerve-wracking feeling that I had ever felt in my life, aside from the first time that he had pulled me during the preemptive dance at the beginning of our first lesson. I put what I learned to the test, and I found that he was more dangerous when he wasn't lenient. I actually had to try really hard. During the lesson, I had found that my most effective attack _was_ actually what Piandao had done to me in my second lesson: I counterfeited several strikes, and when he thought that I was going to grow through with them, I went the other direction and detoured. Of course, at the end of the duel, he had managed to find my weak point, which was my cockiness. He had pulled my staff, evading the severe tang, and held his sword to my neck, which indicated defeat.

He withdrew his sword from me, released my Naginata, and sheathed it; although he had won the duel, he nevertheless smiled and bowed to me respectively.

"You have shown several accounts of a true wielder of the Naginata," Master Piandao informed me as he led me back to the castle. "Gracefulness, balance, agility, and evasive maneuvering are your greatest strengths, pupil; however, you might want to keep it on the down low when you're fighting. When you're on the upper hand of duel, do not consider that your opponent will feel damaged by your triumph." He turned. "You'd be surprised how many people have pride for a weakness."

"Quite frankly, I prefer stupidity," I remarked lazily.

"Pride's a weakness." He considered me. "You must continue your training on your own. When you find Iroh, give him this," he handed me the white lotus tile that I had handed his butler. "And, you can keep _this_," he handed me one as well.

I gave him an amused look.

"You gasbags _really_ like the white lotus, don't you?" I retorted jokingly.

He smirked.

"Fat will give you some supplies for your journey. It has been an honor to train you."

I returned the bow.

"Thank you, Master."


	13. The Avatar's Party

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Thirteen: The Avatar's Party

I would start this part of the story by saying that I followed the map and found Iroh so easily, but that, my jury, would be called _lying._ It's actually ironic, too. I could lift an entire army off their feet with my mind; and with the skills that I had obtained from my training with Piandao, I could kill half that many people. However, not one of skills included the one that I needed the most:

A sense of direction. It was easy to follow the map to Piandao because the landmarks were all there and it wasn't too much of a hike. When I tried to return to the cave that I had left, it seemed highly impossible. I had set out at daybreak, and by night fall, I was still wandering the forests, dusty roads, and river sides—all the while, I was trying to recognize the landforms that I had seen before on my way to the castle. And nothing caught my eye.

When I finally decided to lie down and get a few winks of sleep, this is when I met the newest member of the Avatar's party.

Weary from travel, and nothing short of feeling like I was going in an ever-ending circle, I found a nice soft spot of dirt beside a boulder that huddled close to a steady, flowing creek. I slept with my Naginata in my hand, alert and wary that animal or man would find me to be an interesting intruder on the land. It was near mid-afternoon when I heard a giant grumble, a _thud_ like somebody landing on the ground. And when feet shuffled onto the grass, I was unnerved, and remained very still.

Of course, I hadn't expected a boulder to strike me out of nowhere against my shoulder, so my silence was penetrated by my surprised and painful cry of—

"_Bleeding hog-monkeys!"_

My presence was heard; and the visitors that came to me were recognizable faces, though none of them looked happy to see me. Reeling in startled shock by the random stalagmite jutting out of the ground beneath me, I looked up to the sky to see four human faces and two beastly ones staring down at me. The Avatar's party held defensive stances, ready to fend me off if I attacked. The only face that I did not recognize seemed to look at me in a distant gaze, and I immediately could tell that she was blind.

Yes, I met Toph Beifong for the first time; she met Iroh the same way, but later down the line.

The beastly faces that looked at me were the Avatar's bison and the flying lemur that accompanied him in the Fire Temple. I stared up at them all, knowing that they would have thought that I had been stalking them all this time. I was right, of course.

"_Why are you here?_" demanded Katara.

I saw a sliver of water fly out of the creek to swarm around her outstretched fingers. Sokka raised his boomerang and machete at arm's length; the Avatar glared at me through his dark eyes. All of them seemed to be ready to attack; however, Toph stopped them.

"She's not going to hurt us," said Toph calmly, gesturing for them to step back.

"Are you crazy?" said Sokka, his voice high-pitched. "She's with the Fire Nation!"

"Do I look like I'm with the Fire Nation anymore?" I said weakly, massaging my bruising shoulder. "What's wrong with you people?" I used the rock that Toph had created to support myself to my feet. I reached for Naginata—the crew tensed as I used it to keep my knees from collapsing under my groggy body. "You just go attacking anyone you see?"

"Well," said Katara defensively, "considering that's what _you_ do, what could we expect?"

"I'm clearly not doing it now, am I?" I retorted, sitting down on the boulder. "I was actually sleeping until your _friend_ bashed me in the shoulder."

Aang considered me momentarily; I saw the flicker of hesitation in his eyes.

"Who _are_ you?" he said, lowering his staff slightly.

"We _know_ who she is," snapped Katara, glaring at me by her brother. "She tried to kill us, remember?"

"_Kill you?_" I chuckled harshly, shaking my head. "Why would I want the Avatar dead?"

"That's what the Fire Nation wants," Sokka said. "So that's what you want."

Toph looked in my direction.

"What exactly did you do?"

Sokka was ready for that.

"She destroyed a village on Kyoshi Island. Suki's house was destroyed. It's because of _you!" _he said dramatically, pointing his whale-tooth machete at me. I nicked the top of his blade with the warrior tang of my Naginata, to which he reacted violently by waving his weapons maniacally over his head. "_Don't do anything stupid, crazy Fire Nation lady!"_

"Look," I said patiently, "yes, I traveled with Zuko. Yes, I did try to help Zuko capture you."

"You're not exactly selling yourself, lady," said Toph beside me, her own voice sounding skeptical. "Any person who helps the Fire Nation is an enemy of ours."

"Yeah!" Sokka cried out passionately. "What _she_ said!"

"Sokka," said Aang, "maybe we _should_ hear what she has to say. I mean, she hasn't tried to attack us at all…"

I shrugged, beside myself.

"I couldn't even tell you where Zuko is," I said honestly. "And, if it's any consolation to you, Avatar Aang, I'd rather you are alive and free than captured or worse…"

"You're lying," said Katara abrasively. "It's probably all a sneaky plot to fool us."

"I _don't_ know where Zuko is because we split up about a couple of days ago." I confessed.

Toph considered my words with a loud "_Hmm."_

She spoke aloud to confer with her companions,

"She's telling the truth. I can tell."

Aang looked at me.

"Well, what are you doing here? Why don't you just go back home?"

"I can't," I said. "I'm a fugitive from the Fire Nation, and I'm an enemy of the Earth Kingdom. Besides," I shrugged, "it's not exactly a home."

Aang bit the inside of his cheek.

"What are you? You're not a Firebender; you're not a Waterbender or an Earthbender. What exactly—?"

"I'm a telekinetic." I said gently. "I'm not sure what you've heard, but I'm not exactly in high grandstanding with anybody. Except Zuko, of course." I waved my hand dismissively. "I'm not a bender, but I can—"

"Aha!" Sokka cried out triumphantly, and he pointed his machete at my face again, "a witch!"

I grabbed his sword and flung it away from me. He jerked slightly from the sudden movement but composed himself, turning to me in annoyance.

"I'm _not_ a witch," I said, feeling suddenly aggravated. "I'm a telekinetic. I move stuff with my mind. You know: cosmic energy and all that. I'm a psychic portal for a spirit."

"So…" said Aang indecisively. "You're…like me?"

"I'm not anything like you," I said. "I just connect with one spirit, not all of them. And," I sighed, rising to my feet, "I can't stand being connected with just the one. Anyway, it's nice to meet you all, but I should be going."

Katara narrowed her eyes at me.

"Where are you headed?" she asked.

"I'm trying to find Zuko." I said plainly. "Unless _you've _seen him, I don't see why we should continue this awkward conversation. I don't see any point in trying to establish trust."

Katara frowned, apparently dissatisfied with everything that I had said.

"If you're not with Zuko anymore, and you don't want Aang to be captured, why are you helping the Fire Nation try to capture him?"

She stormed up to me confrontationally. A finger flung in front of my face as she pointed at my shoulder accusingly; I batted her hand away.

"Look," I said, feeling annoyed. "If you should know _anything_ about me, it should be known that I don't want him dead. Frankly, _selfishly_, I don't want him dead because the imbalance gives me _mind-splitting_ headache," I stepped away from Katara for personal space, "and I'd rather not experience that sort of thing like I did at the North Pole. How's that for an explanation, Waterbender?"

"Then," said Katara, "If that's all true, _why _are you trying to find Prince Zuko? You're still working for him, aren't you? Fire Nation soldiers stick together 'til the end, don't they, _Mura? _Unless that's not really your name!"

"I don't _work _for him anymore," I sighed agitatedly. "I'm trying to find Prince Zuko because he's my boyfriend."

Her accusing finger dropped the moment I said 'boyfriend'; the Avatar party looked stunned as if I had thrown Sokka's boomerang at them. I walked up to the Avatar, who met my gaze.

"Just so you know," I said gently, "I am all for your existence, Avatar Aang. The entire world relies on the balance. I know that Zuko needs to capture you in order to go home with honor; but he's much better without the Fire Nation. So…" I smiled awkwardly. "Try your best to avoid capture…"

He gave me a strange, puzzled look; his reaction imitated across the other members of his group with equal astonishment. I bowed respectively toward Avatar Aang; he returned it, though still utterly stumped.

"Wait!" he called. "Wait, I need to ask you something!"

I looked around to see that the Avatar was chasing me across the grassy knoll. I stopped to hear what he had to say.

"You said that you're spiritually connected. What spirit?" he asked curiously.

"Shen Si Ling," I said easily. "Though, I guess it'll ease your mind to know that I've been trying to close the portal for some time now. I didn't mean to destroy those houses on Kyoshi Island."

Aang smiled kindly.

"Somehow, I know that you didn't."

I returned his smile graciously.

"I guess the monks raised you right, didn't they?"

"Hey," Aang said abruptly. "You're a telekinetic, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, I've only heard of one so far that I've been here. You're Mura Lynn? The girl who went missing?"

"Yes," I said with a soft smile. "It's an honor to meet you personally, Avatar. I think that the next time that we meet, I dare say that it won't be a pleasant one."

He nodded, his face falling solemnly.

I grimaced as I waved goodbye to him. He waved back.


	14. Not Just a Game

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Fourteen: Not Just a Game

It took me another whole day, journeying through another side of the forest to finally come across a cleared path on the outskirts. It was a gentle cliff side, a mid-point between Gaoling (where the Beifongs lived), the village that Zuko visited, and a nearby ghost town which had abandoned for _years_. When I was walking along this path, I finally came to the edge of the cliff side where I recognized an old man with an unkempt beard and gentle eyes as Iroh. When I approached him, he only paused to look at me and the thing that I carried in my hand; Iroh put two and two together and then he embraced me strongly in a great big, famous bear hug.

"Mura, you found me!"

"Well," I panted, the breath nearly squeezed out of me, "not exactly. I sort of just stumbled on you."

He released me.

I explained delicately,

"It turns out that I have a terrible sense of direction. I got lost last night."

"Oh? Did you meet anybody during your journey?" he asked, indicating my Naginata with a finger.

"No enemies," I said, contemplating the Avatar party. "I don't think they were concerned about who I was."

"Well," he said, gesturing me to sit down, "you met Master Piandao obviously."

I nodded. I then told Iroh about my adventure in the castle; about the lessons, and what Piandao taught me. I told him that Piandao had given me lessons about myself that I never knew. Then I told Iroh that in order to keep control of my actions, I couldn't use my telekinesis at all unless it was extremely mandatory. At the last, Iroh could tell that I was still sore about this; merely because I had thought that my powers gave me great strength, but it seemed that after what had happened at Kyoshi Island and what I tried to do to Zhao, it was like my powers were more of a curse to everybody but me. When I explained my feelings about what Piandao told me to do, Iroh offered another cup of tea in response. He tipped my chin with one of his fingers in attempt to console me.

"It really shouldn't be so shocking, Mura," said Iroh contently. "I told you that in order to block out the spirit, you would have to become more powerful."

"Yes," I said, "and I did, but when Piandao made me angry during one of our lessons, I nearly tried to impale him." Even as I said it, I realized just how dangerous it was to keep my powers linked to emotion. "So I guess he's right, isn't he? I shouldn't use my powers at all…"

"That's why he trained you in the Naginata, I imagine," said Iroh. "You are not a defenseless woman anymore, Mura. You are now a significant warrior, who also has a dangerous mind. This doesn't necessarily mean that you are unstable. It is just better for everyone around you that you do not give Shen Si Ling the opportunity to act as an extremely sensitive mother when her child is being insulted."

I accepted this graciously. Remembering Piandao's last words, I pulled the White Lotus tile from the pockets of my new robes and handed Iroh the one he gave me. Iroh smiled. I showed him the one that Piandao had given me.

"Iroh," I said patiently. "You must tell me how you and Piandao know each other. What is the significance of the Lotus tile? Why did you once tell me that that Pai Sho is more than just a game? Master Piandao indicated that there were more people who were in this club or something. He told me that you're not just a general in the Fire Nation." I held up the Pai Sho game piece meaningfully. "_What_ is this, really?"

Iroh smiled secretively at me. He took the piece out of my hand.

"_This_," he said, "is just a pawn on a game board."

I frowned, feeling that his statement was extremely anticlimactic.

"However, the White Lotus itself," he began, "is something else entirely." Iroh handed my tile back to me. "Since Piandao has made you a member, I think you should know now."

Before he explained this grand secret that I had been dying to know for about a day and a half, Iroh poured me a cup of tea, and then he etched the White Lotus pattern into the dirt that separated us.

"We are not a club," he said. "It an ancient and secret society that transcends boundaries of the four nations, seeking philosophy, beauty, and truth; we are devoted to sharing the ancient knowledge across national and political divides."

"So it's a society that reaches to a person in each nation, and all of you are unbiased. You understand the ways of the world—the balance," I said summarily.

He nodded, smiling at me.

"The Order of the White Lotus has great leaders and grandmasters," he continued. "I'm one of the grandmasters, and now so are you."

I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head when he told me the last bit. I stared at him incredulously.

"I'm sorry," I said, hearing my voice become frenetic, "_Run _that by me again."

"The Order has grandmasters that are at the highest peak of their abilities: the Northern Water Tribe's Waterbending master is a grandmaster. Piandao is a grandmaster, for he's a master of swordsmanship. The king of Omashu is a grandmaster; he's an Earthbending master."

"And you're the Firebending master?" I asked in conclusion.

"There's another grandmaster that is also highly trained in Firebending; he's a deserter, actually. He lives as we live." Iroh said, aside from the point.

I shrugged.

"Then if all the grandmasters are highly skilled in their art, why am I one? I just started using my Naginata, and I'm no expert in any bending discipline _or_ hand-to-hand combat."

"You _do_ have a psychic link to the Spirit World, though," Iroh pointed out. "Even if it is recommended for you to keep the portal closed, you _do_ have the necessary power and strength to overcome the forces that should destroy the world. You're a grandmaster because your powers range in the paranormal, which makes you a valuable member."

"But," I said quietly, "with all these powers formed together; water, earth, fire, and a swords master—and me—why, then, can't _we_ take down the Fire Lord?"

Iroh seemed to have expected that I would ask this. He didn't seem too shocked that I would propose a team of prestigious masters to wipe out a man. He shook his head in reply.

"It is the Avatar's destiny to take down the Fire Lord. History wouldn't see it as justice, Mura. It would be a brother killing a brother, and a team overpowering one man. And," he continued, setting a hand on my arm, "it would also see you as being the main threat. A twelve-year-old girl is forced to flee when her father is arrested, and when she returns to her homeland, she kills the man who imprisoned her parents…" he shook his head.

"I guess that _would_ be wrong, wouldn't it?" I said, feeling sad.

"The Avatar will master the four elements, Mura," said Iroh. "He's done it before in his past lifetimes, so he will do it again." A pause. "Is that who you met on your journey?"

"Him," I answered truthfully, "and his rag-tag team of friends."

He smiled.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I managed to explain to them," I said, "that I wasn't with the Fire Nation anymore. Though, they're convinced that I'm setting them up for Zuko. The Avatar doubts it, though. I suppose that's what counts."

Iroh nodded.

"I haven't been able to track him so easily," Iroh said, now on about Zuko. "He's been to a village that was bullied for Earth Kingdom guards. It seems, according to the people, that he had helped a family save their little boy from being put on the front lines, but at the last moment, he revealed to the village that he was the Fire Lord's son."

"Well," I said proudly, "at least he hasn't forgotten who he is."

"If only he would understand that his destiny can be recognized so easily." Iroh sipped his tea.

"I miss him." I muttered, holding the cup of tea in my hands. "I really do."

"We'll find him, Mura," he assured me without hesitation.

I chuckled softly, amused by such conviction.

"How can you sound so confident," I asked humorously, "and so positive all the time?"

"There's a silver lining with every thunderstorm," he answered.

I took that as a very good response, and continued to drink my tea, relieved.


	15. Bittersweet Reunions

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Fifteen: Bittersweet Reunions

Iroh and I left the outskirts of the forest to settle down on a rock ledge; it overlooked the places that we had been and journeyed in order to find Zuko. To no avail, he hadn't been in the places we looked. While Iroh set me down for tea, we were taken by surprise when a huge boulder shot toward us and bolted Iroh off his rear end, sending him forward. I took up the aggressive stance, whipping out my Naginata and holding it in front of me, just like Piandao had shown me. When the large boulder reduced itself into the ground, I looked ahead to see the Earthbending blind girl who traveled with the Avatar. Recognizing her, I looked down at Iroh, who was sitting upward, recovering himself from sudden hit.

"Ow," he muttered, turning around, "that really hurt my tailbone."

Toph, realizing that the person she assaulted was an old man, relinquished her fighter's stance and stepped toward us. She pointed a finger at me,

"Hey, I know you."

"I don't think that really means anything," I said casually, lowering my weapon.

"Relax, Mura," said Iroh, rising to his feet. "I'm sure she's just a traveler."

I looked at him seriously.

"She's with the Avatar," I said lightly. "I met her when I was in the woods."

Toph crossed her arms.

"I only attacked you guys because I thought you were the girls that were following us all day."

"What girls?"

"Doesn't matter," said Toph, shrugging.

Iroh walked toward her, offering a hand.

"We were just about to have some more tea. Join us." Iroh glanced at me as if to make sure that I was all right with the idea, but I merely shrugged. To me, Toph was in the same position that any of us was in: she was an adventurer in search for something or someone. Toph took a seat beside me.

Iroh poured us tea and offered her a cup and then me. She didn't take it immediately until after he spoke to her.

"Here is your tea. You seem a little too young to be traveling alone."

"You seem a little too old." Toph retorted.

I felt a smile perk the corners of my lips. It had been a while since there was girl in company. And she wasn't someone who would flinch when dangers would present themselves. I could tell that Toph's personality was as hard as her bending discipline. I suppose that's what I admired about her—and what I still admire about her.

Iroh laughed at her comment.

"Perhaps I am."

Toph sighed.

"I know what you're thinking. I look like I can't handle being by myself."

Iroh declined the thought,

"I wasn't thinking that."

"You wouldn't even let me pour my own cup of tea."

"I poured your tea because I wanted to," he said, offering an emphatic gesture with his hand, "and for no other reason."

"People see me and think I'm weak. They want to take care of me," said Toph. "But I can take care of myself, by myself."

"You sound like my nephew," said Iroh. He glanced at me then looked at the girl. "Always thinking that you need to do things on your own without anyone's support; there is nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you. Not that I love you; I just met you."

Toph emitted a sincere laugh.

"So," she asked, "where is your nephew?"

Iroh answered, "I've been tracking him, actually."

"Is he lost?"

"Yes," replied Iroh with a concerned look on his face. "A little bit; his life recently changed and he's going through very difficult times. He is trying to figure out who he is and he went away."

Toph nodded.

"So…now you're following him?"

"We both are," I volunteered softly.

"I know that he doesn't want me around right now," Iroh said, "but if he needs me, or if he needs Mura; we'll be there."

Toph made a weird look on her face. Her eyes turned to me.

"You said that you were searching for your boyfriend?"

"Yes," I said quietly.

"Well, if you ask me, this nephew slash boyfriend seems to be very lucky—even if he doesn't know it." She rose to her feet. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Iroh said, bowing slightly. "Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights. That's how I met Mura, believe it or not."

Toph smiled.

"No," she said, "thank you for what you said. It helped me."

"I'm glad."

Toph picked up her bag and began to leave; she turned back briefly.

"Oh," she added, "and about your nephew? Maybe you should tell him that you need him too."

After we ran into Toph, it seemed like only a few hours later did we come across the infamous showdown at a ghost town. The ghost town in question was not too from the forest that Iroh and I had inhabited days before; and it wasn't too far from the village that Zuko had visited on his trip solo.

Iroh and I had apparently come into the ultimate showdown in the middle. Toph had mentioned three girls that had been following the Avatar's party; one was Azula, and I assumed that because the royal princess had to travel light, she was also traveling with Ty Lee (who I later discovered was coerced into joining Azula) and Mai (who joined in order to get some non-existent thrill). The Avatar's party (Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph) had arrived there in short of the nick of time. Azula was battling Sokka and Katara, and Aang was escaping fiery blow from within the walls of an abandoned bank. Out came Zuko was flailing his limbs about in order to catch the Avatar; his attempts were subdued as his sister attacked him with a shot of blue Firebending—he was blown out of the building through the wall and landed hard on the ground. Iroh grabbed my hand and we rushed into the battle. As Iroh went to check on Zuko's status, my attempt to rush to him was blocked by Azula who wielded a fire dagger at me. She stopped me a foot from Zuko, and I gasped, startled, and she made an effort to strike me.

With the help of Piandao's gift for me, I fended myself against her attacks. I admitted some delight to know that the staff that he had given me was coincidentally—_nearly—_indestructible.

"Well, looks like you found a master haven't you?" she said with little impression in her voice. "Too afraid to use your powers against me again, Mura?"

She wielded a rough fist toward my face, emitted with blue flames, which I parried with the end of my warrior tang—the cling of her metal hand guard and my blade sounded.

"I don't need my powers to go against you," I retorted roughly, and I pushed her back.

Another blow torch came at me from her hand—but it was immediately thwarted when a blast of yellow flames flew in front of me, averting her from me. Azula growled unhappily and we turned to see that Zuko was back on his feet again. Zuko charged at her. They exchanged close-ranged blows, each as acrobatic as the other sibling. The Avatar Party got in on the wild battle, each exchanging blows with the Fire Nation princess.

It was actually amusing how two enemies could join together to fight a mutual enemy. And that's what we ended up doing. Aang, Katara, and Toph headed toward Azula, each using their unique bending discipline with ferocity and experience. Sokka came out from behind a building and whipped his machete toward her. He missed, but it distracted Azula just momentarily. As Azula started running the other way, Iroh came forth and she bumped into him. She bounced off, looking utterly confused.

Sokka, Aang, Katara, Toph, Zuko, Iroh, and I closed in on Azula, whose back was turned to the corner of a burnt out building: she had no place to go. She gave each of us a stern gaze.

"Well," she said, "look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together. I'm done." She raised her hand in a gesture of surrender. "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."

Even as she said it, I didn't believe her. I glanced at Iroh for some kind of assurance; but he was looking at the young girl beside Zuko, Toph. I figured that the connection between the Earthbender and the Avatar was well-understood.

Then Azula took her advantage of his small distraction, and she shot a blast of blue fire square into his chest. It was like it was in slow motion. As Iroh cried out in surprise and pain and spun toward the ground, I heard Zuko screaming beside me.

The Benders blew their strikes toward Azula; Sokka threw his boomerang; and I pitched my Naginata like a Javelin. Azula made a shield of blue fire, but the combined blows of the forces directed at her caused a tremendous explosion. Burning debris rained down from the explosion. When the smoke cleared, Azula was gone.

I turned behind me to see that Zuko had fallen to his knees in despair beside his uncle, who lay still on the ground where he had fallen. Iroh groaned softly as Zuko clenched his fists and teeth in angry. I approached him quietly. I was relieved to see him again, but I was sad to see that our reunion had ended so somberly. I set a hand on Zuko's shoulder and knelt beside him, attempting to calm him.

Behind us, the Avatar's party approached tepidly.

Zuko turned around angrily,

"_Get away from us!"_

I glanced over my shoulder to see that Katara came forth with one hand over her heart; and the other stretched out in a gesture of aid freely offered.

"Zuko. Zuko, I can help…"

Zuko turned again and unleashed a wave of fire over their heads.

"_Leave!"_

I rose to my feet and went to them quietly.

"Thank you," I said to them, though feeling extremely awkward. "But you must go. The troops may not be too far from here…"

Aang and Katara looked at each other. They gestured a nod of understanding. Toph and Sokka followed them toward the alley from where they had come—the giant flying bison flew toward them. As they boarded, Aang gave one last glance to me, and then they were gone.

I turned to Zuko, who was wrestling with anger and sadness as he peered at his unconscious uncle. I pulled his sleeve.

"Come on, Zuko. We need to get him to shade. Come on…" I goaded quietly.

I recollected my weapon from the burning building. Then a teary-eyed Zuko, though holding an expression of inner agitation, and I hauled Iroh's arms over either our shoulders. We carried him atop a rocky ledge where a broken down house still stood, looking over the ghost town. When we got inside, I helped Zuko lower Iroh to the floor boards.

"He's unconscious," I said gently, "but he's otherwise okay."

Zuko knelt down beside Iroh and tore the clothing from where Azula had targeted him. Beneath the material, I recognized a burn when I saw it. She had struck with precision. Any more of the burns on his body would have made him nearly useless.

Zuko produced his voice, looking at me with a dry expression.

"You found a master." His voice was raspier than usual. He indicated my Naginata.

"Yes," I said briefly. I guided Zuko outside to search for medicinal plants.

He seemed to speak to me as if it was his way of keeping calm, though on some level, he wanted to make conversation, or to be updated on what I had been doing since he had left me.

"Who?" he continued as we picked the stems of the lavender sprigs.

"Yours," I said gently, smiling slightly. "Master Piandao. He sends his regards, by the way."

Zuko gave me a look.

"I had to find a way of defending myself," I explained. "Opening the portal by using my powers at all is dangerous to the people that I love. It's meant to protect me: no one else. So I have stopped using them, which also makes me more temperamental." I smiled. "Go figure."

I stopped harvesting the plants, and so did he.

"I missed you," I confessed shamelessly.

"I missed you too," Zuko replied.

"What did you do when you were gone? Did you make any new friends?" I asked this half-jokingly.

He seemed thoughtful. Then he answered a bit solemnly,

"No. I don't think that I did."

We retreated back to the house where we spent the rest of the day, wrapping Iroh's hurt shoulder in bandages and gathering leaves for future pots of tea.


	16. Precision

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Sixteen: Precision

Zuko and I sat against the wall where Iroh was recuperating. Zuko had asked me about my new skill in _Naginatajutsu_, which is the practice of using _Naginata._ I told him about my training with Piandao, and how I was supposed to channel my talents in telekinesis into the use of a physical object. Piandao was very specific that I should close the portal as much as I could between Shen Si Ling's world and the mortal world. Zuko seemed to express puzzlement about the closure, since in the past, I had always told him that I was proud of my gift. Now, even to me, closing the main link to my powers seemed to be highly contradictive.

"I am sure that Iroh and Master Piandao are right about my gift," I said sadly. "It actually is more unfortunate because when you left, I sort of advanced through a second level of mastery."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how I told you that the only way that I could 'bend' was that I had to be in full physical contact with the elements?"

"Yes…"

"Well, it turns out that I can levitate molecular compounds in their smallest forms. I can manipulate flames," I said, smiling. "And, what's more astounding is that I can manipulate lightning."

Zuko's eyes widened in amazement.

"That's incredible."

"Yeah," I shrugged, crestfallen. "But it just makes the spirit easier to come through me when I lose my temper. I'm a weapon for mass destruction, Zuko. Sure, my powers are extraordinary; I've done so many things that I thought were impossible. And they protect me. But it's a way that Shen Si Ling can exact her revenge. I am the gateway between her and the mortal world."

"Well, two months ago, you said that it was a good thing," said Zuko, offering a hand of confusion.

"I constantly remind people that I'm not the Avatar because there's a difference between him and me." I retorted quietly. "The spirit that I can link to is not one that is gentle and unbiased by Tui or La, or even the forest spirit Hei Bai. She's a cruel angel and demon; and she exacts justice on anybody, whether or not they deserve it.

"That's sort of why I had to learn another way to defend myself, which is why I took up _Naginatajutsu_. It's me, but in physical form rather than just mental energy. I'm a versatile weapon," I said with a shrug.

Zuko moved away from and lit a fire underneath the tea pot. Iroh apparently had forsaken the golden tea pot that Zuko had _traded,_ and he now had the porcelain pot. Zuko's golden eyes glanced at me, carrying this expression that I divulged as being concerned.

"You left my uncle to find a master?" he said.

"He told me to," I explained. "Your uncle was the one who decided that the stronger that I became, it was highly probable that whenever I lost my temper, I could lose control. Don't you see? As long as I don't use psychokinesis, everyone is safe. _You're safe._"

He pondered this momentarily.

"I hope you're as good with that thing as you are in your head," he muttered. He glanced at Iroh. "When do you think he'll wake up?"

"It shouldn't be much longer. Azula shot him, but I think it was the fall that made him go black," I speculated, scooting along the wooden floor to sit beside Zuko's uncle. I examined him only briefly. From my peripheral vision, Zuko's eyes watched me on my left. Feeling unnerved, I looked up at him.

I smiled kindly.

"Why are you looking at me that way, Zuko?"

It was a sentence that I had said many times over again to him, but he wore that look on his face whenever it seemed that we'd have a touching moment. It was not a hard frown that he always wore on his face; it was soft and unspoken: like a secret that only two people would know about. He considered his words before speaking.

"When I was traveling alone," he began, "I was thinking back when my mom was still around; when Uncle was in the siege of Ba Sing Se, and when my dad wasn't crowned Fire Lord."

"Ah, good times…" I retorted flatly.

"Right, anyway," he pressed on, "I was thinking of how it was when you were still…_accepted._ You're not the same person that you were when you were friends with my sister."

"Of course not," I said with a smile. "It's all in due time, Prince Zuko. Living away from royalty gives you insight on your true self, not what people have made you believe." I felt my facial expression falter. "Not everything that you've heard in the Fire Nation is true."

"Like what?"

"Well, for one," I said gently, "Sozin didn't ambush the Air Nomads. The Air Nomads had no military; Sozin destroyed their temples without an ultimatum."

The look on Zuko's face told me that he very much doubted it.

"How would you know that?" he retorted coarsely.

I tapped my forehead,

"I have an all-knowing spirit living in my cortex. Why would it be a lie?"

Zuko frowned. He deterred from the subject as if it had never been spoken. We sat in silence for a moment then Iroh started to stir in front of us. Zuko hovered over Iroh with a concerned look on his face.

"Uncle!"

Iroh's vision cleared and he looked at us, gaining focus and understanding of his surroundings.

"You were unconscious," Zuko said. "Azula did this to you."

Iroh attempted to get up, but he winced in pain. I helped him sit up. He patted me appreciatively on the hand, and he turned to his nephew. Compared to Iroh, our minor cuts and scrapes were nothing.

"It was a surprise attack," Zuko finished.

"Somehow," Iroh grunted, "that's not so surprising."

Zuko picked up a steaming cup and handed it to Iroh.

"I hope that I made it the way you like it."

Iroh took the offered cup, and he took a sip; his eyes widened, and he let out a cry of disgust, but he managed to mask it.

"Mm, good…" he took another drink and grunted. "That was very, uhh…bracing!"

I smirked to myself. Zuko handed him another cup. When his nephew wasn't looking, Iroh tossed the tea out the window. He winked at me. Zuko looked up at his uncle meaningfully.

"So, Uncle, I've been thinking. It's only a matter of time before I run into Azula again. I'm going to need to know more advanced Firebending if I want to stand a chance against her. I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her."

"No," said Iroh plainly. "She's crazy, and she needs to go down."

I smiled cheerfully at this, and turned to Zuko.

"Everybody needs a master, Zuko. Azula may be a Firebending prodigy, but she had to learn her stuff from somebody."

Iroh rose to his feet with some difficulty. Zuko, who hadn't apparently expected his uncle to say such a thing, merely nodded in understanding. Iroh rubbed his shoulder.

"It's time to resume your training."

I brewed a second pot of tea. Zuko hadn't mastered the art of tea-making, and it wasn't too surprising. He grew sick of it, like me, but it could be made so sweet that one would think that they were drinking honey. Of course, I didn't like my tea so strong. So when I made the pot, I handed one to Iroh, who blessed it with a sigh of relief; and I handed one to Zuko, who drained it with nary a fuss. All three of us sat cross-legged on the floor. And it seemed like old times.

"Lightning," began Iroh, "is a pure of expression of Firebending, without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other Firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly, like Azula. To perform the technique, it requires peace of mind."

Iroh indicated a hand to me, to which I blushed.

"Mura's gift of the mind is a natural balance of peace and togetherness; her ability to manipulate lightning is produced by the cortex that is formidable against emotion. She is equally balanced between positive energy and negative energy, which gives the lightning a route to guide."

Zuko nodded in understanding.

"I see," he said patiently. "That's why we're drinking tea: to calm the mind."

"Oh, yeah! Good point! I mean, yes." Iroh smiled widely.

Zuko and Iroh rose to their feet; I followed them outside. Iroh stood on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the valley with the walled, abandoned city at the bottom.

"There is energy all around us," Iroh continued from the lesson. "The energy is both yin and yang: positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few Firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance and in a moment, the positive and negative energy come crashing back together. You provide release and guidance, creating lightning."

Iroh held out a hand, signaled for Zuko and me to stand back. He held his right hand to his side and with two fingers extended, he began to create lightning by rotating his arm in a circular motion around his body. He mimicked the motion with his left arm. Bolts of lightning buzzed and popped around him, lighting up the area around us.

It was the second most amazing thing that I had ever seen. Zuko looked impressed, wearing an awe-inspired smile on his face.

Iroh brought his hands together and then he lunged forward with his right hand extended; lightning shot out of his fingers into the distance.

"I'm ready to try it!" Zuko said confidently.

Iroh rubbed his injured shoulder slightly.

"Remember, Zuko, once you separate the energy, you do not command it. You are simply its humble guide. Breathe first."

Zuko breathed in and he closed his eyes. He began to mimic the motions that Iroh performed, except this time it did not create the traces of lightning. Zuko shot his right hand forward but it merely caused a fiery explosion which shoved Zuko backward. He fell onto his back beside Iroh. In front of us, the hiss of smoke blew from the edge of the cliff.

This wasn't the only time that he tried to do it. I sat with Iroh against the house as Zuko attempted the exercise again. And once more. And again a third time. And he tried a fourth time. On his fifth time, he was blow back by explosion. In the air, the smoke proceeded to climb its way to the top of the mountain. Zuko cried out in frustration.

"_Why can't I do it?_" he got to his feet. "Instead of lighning, it just keeps exploding in my face! Like everything always does!"

"I was afraid that this might happen," Iroh said, getting to his feet. "You will not be able to master lightning until you have dealt with the turmoil inside you."

Zuko exploded in anger, turning to his uncle,

"_What turmoil?_"

"Zuko, you must let go of your feelings of shame if you want your anger to go away."

"But I don't feel any shame at all! I'm as proud as ever!"

"Prince Zuko, pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote of shame."

"Well…my life has been nothing but humbling lately."

Iroh looked to the side.

"I have another idea. I will teach you a Firebending move that even Azula doesn't know because I made it up myself!"

He pointed a thumb to himself, smirking slightly. Zuko smiled.

Zuko sat down for the lesson. Iroh was drawing symbols of each of the bending disciplines in the dirt with a stick as he explained them. Zuko observed intently.

And, ladies and gentlemen, you might remember these things because these were the same words that Iroh had told me when he describing my personality when I was first recruited on Zuko's ship during my first testimony.

"Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribe are capable of adapting to many thing; they have a deep sense of community and love that hold them together through anything."

Zuko absorbed this explanation, and he looked up at Iroh.

"Why are you telling me these things?"

"It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole."

"All this 'four elements' talk is sounding like Avatar stuff."

"It is the combination of the four elements in one person that makes the Avatar so powerful. But, it can make you more powerful too"—he poked Zuko's chest with the stick—"You see, the technique that I'm about to teach you is one that I learned from studying the Waterbenders."

Zuko was now intrigued.

It was near mid-evening when Iroh and Zuko began to practice the Waterbending moves. I found a comfy spot in the dirt, merely observing.

"Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy," Iroh explained. "A Waterbender lets their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' energy against them. I learned a way to do this with lightning."

"_You can teach me how to redirect lightning?_" Zuko asked excitedly. Iroh nodded, apparently pleased that his nephew took a monstrous interest in something.

Iroh continued,

"If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it." He indicated the path with his hand, "You must create a pathway from your fingertips, up your arm to your shoulder, and down into your stomach. The stomach is the source of energy through your body. It is called the sea of chi."

He chuckled.

"Though, in my case, it is more like a vast ocean!"

He laughed, though Zuko remained stoic.

"You direct it up again out the other arm," continued Iroh. "The stomach detour is critical. You must not let the lightning pass through your heart," he walked up to Zuko and pointed his fingers at his chest, "or the damage could be deadly. You may wish to try a physical motion to get a feel for the pathway's flow. Like this…"

He demonstrated the motion; Zuko copied this move as well. They moved their left arms to the right and back again.

"Now, are you focusing your energy? Can you feel your own chi flowing in, down, up, and out?"

"I think so…"

Iroh began to move his arms in a waving motion at his sides humorously; I chuckled, obviously amused.

"Come on, Zuko. You've got to feel the flow."

Later that evening, Iroh suddenly stopped and stood in front of Zuko.

"Excellent! You've got it!"

Zuko bowed slightly, putting his hands together.

"Great!" he remarked cheerfully. "I'm ready to try it with _real_ lightning!"

Iroh gave his nephew a questioning look.

"What, are you crazy? Lightning is very dangerous."

Zuko became annoyed.

"I thought that was the pint: you teaching me how to protect myself from it."

Iroh's eyes twitched.

"_But I'm not going to shoot lightning at you!"_ Iroh said frantically, waving his arms around defensively. He turned from him and started walking toward me. "If you are lucky, you will never have to use this technique at all."

Zuko gazed off at the dark clouds that were forming in the distance.

"Well, if you won't help me, I'll find my own lightning."

Iroh closed his eyes and trembled a bit.

"Zuko!" I attempted to stop him as he started mount the ostrich horse. "You can't just go parading after a thunderstorm. You're going to get killed this—"

But he didn't listen to me. He raced off into the distance.

Iroh shook his head.

I took off after him.

It was pouring down rain, thundering, and lightening when I found him standing atop of the peak, staring at the clouds.

I was damp from head to toe, panting, and weary from running so hard. I climbed the rest of the way on my hands and knees. He was screaming defiantly at the sky,

"You've always thrown everything you could at me! Well, I can take it! And I now I can give it back!"

It was actually a sad moment, and I felt a stab of pity for him as I got to my feet.

"Come on!" he roared to the heavens. "_Strike _me! You've never held back before!"

Lighting flashed in the distance.

He started crying in front of me, but I didn't know if he knew that I was there. He shouted and collapsed onto his hands and knees.

"Zuko!" I called to him. "We need to get down from here. It's too dangerous!"

A loud clap of thunder cracked above us. A bolt of lightning zapped ahead.

And as I stood there, I felt it surged to me like a tremendous adrenaline rush. Beside me, Zuko was flown backwards, staring at me as if I was lit on fire. The bolts of lightning seemed to blind me after that, though I felt no pain. I knew what was going on before it stopped. I pointed to the sky with an arm, and the lightning blew off my body and back into the sky.

My imminent danger had caused me to reopen the portal, and Shen Si Ling had acted in my stead. Zuko rushed to me on his hands and knees as I fell to the ground, weakened and tired.

"Mura," he said. "Mura, are you all right?"

"Whatever just happened," I said quietly, "I'd rather not do that again."

"You redirected lightning," he said.

I looked at my hand, which was lightly zapping with blue bolts from the aftershock.

Zuko and I got to our feet. We mounted the ostrich horse and raced back to the house.


	17. An Unexpected Visitor

The Highest Bidder

Chapter Seventeen: An Unexpected Visitor

When I redirected the lightning during the storm, it opened the portal between Shen Si Ling and me. Because I had worked for so long to keep portal shut, I was feeling extremely confused and frustrated that I couldn't keep the link severed. I grew tired of hearing Iroh and Piandao telling me that it was dangerous for me to use my powers; not because it was like a constant reminder of how dangerous I was, but that by not using my gift at _all_ was _not_ me. When I redirected the lightning from Zuko, it wasn't just extremely terrifying: it was the best that I had ever felt, and I was certain that it was because I felt like me again. I was torn between keeping my loved ones protected and wanting to use my powers again, even if it was just levitating a cup of tea in the air for amusement sake.

So in the dead of night, while Zuko and Iroh were sleeping, I snuck out of the house and sat on the ground, right in front of the four elements drawing that Iroh had implemented to introduce to Zuko about being whole. I inhaled slowly, to calm my mind, to detach myself from the world, so that I could meditate in peace.

And one of the most miraculous things happened.

When I was meditating, I felt as if something had pulled away from me. Curious, I opened my eyes, and I was speechless; for in front of me, I saw a relic of a woman with folded angel wings, and a beautiful face. She was a translucent ghost, sitting cross-legged in front of me, just as I was. Around me, I saw that the loose rock and leaves on the ground were hovering in the air, just like what happened in Zuko's ship whenever I meditated. I looked back to the ghost in front of me. She had no eye color, nor any pupils, but I could tell that she was looking at me. What was more perplexing was that she had no mouth. I stared at her, more in awe than anything.

Although she had no mouth, I heard her speak in my head,

"My name is Shen Si Ling," her voice echoed as if we were in a cave. "Do not be frightened."

_I'm not,_ I thought.

She apparently could read my mind, for she retorted,

"I know that you have been attempting to shut me out," she retorted with a callous tone, "but I am the spirit of the mind, body, and soul; three concepts that your gift perceives. I am the Spirit who gave you this gift."

_But why?_ I asked in my head. _Why me?_

"I have lived for many years, my dear child; I have seen the hurt and pain that the Fire Nation has caused for the world. The Avatar—the boy in the iceberg—is the world's chance of peace and prosperity, but he doesn't understand that the way to stop injustice is to put the enemies in their places."

_You want me to kill those people? The Fire Nation? _

"Mura, I know that you love your people," Shen Si Ling responded, "And whenever threats have been made against your loved ones, I've always interfered to help you avenge those who are close to you. I work through your body because no one else understands the order."

_What order?_

"I saw what happened to you when La was killed at the North Pole. La was a dear friend of mine, and I avenged her by giving you the anger to allow you to _want_ to kill Commander Zhao. I was only thwarted, my dear, when Tui wanted to avenge his lover on his own; so I took the power away."

_You can't fight all my battles for me,_ I thought quietly, though appreciatively. _I destroyed Kyoshi Island; I probably killed all those people just because I was irritated with Zuko! And when I thought that he was dead, I nearly destroyed everything that I hold dear—_

"_You_ are my portal to the mortal world," said Shen Si Ling strongly; it was like her voice had raised a few octaves, and she echoed much more loudly in my head. "You are supposed to be unbiased. I felt your pain when you thought your lover was killed. I felt it again when Princess Azula almost killed him too. I feel angry, too, when I see the damage that was done to you during these moments. So I act in your place to spare you pain."

_But even if that's true, when Piandao was taunting me about Ozai, I nearly impaled him with a sword! _You_ made me do that! That was _wrong!

Shen Si Ling shook her head slowly.

"Your master was trying to teach you how to lock me out, and he succeeded. I hear _everything_ that is said to you: every word about me, every word about you. I know that you fear Ozai; and I know how much pride you hold for the gift that was given to you, by me."

_You tried to kill him, then._

Shen Si Ling nodded.

_But that would just make me more dangerous,_ I argued.

"Mura, you must _never_ try to shut me out," she retorted, now sounding angry.

As she spoke, her dove wings retracted; and hideous, pointed, and clawed bat wings crept out from behind her back, protruding like ugly spider legs from a crevice. My apparent horror was established my face when Shen Si Ling nodded.

"You _do_ fear me," Shen Si Ling said. The elegant voice that I had heard prior to the bat wing monster was now a crackling crone's voice: sinister and furious. "_I gave you the power of the mind to give you a field advantage against the Fire Nation._ In the past 100 years, they have destroyed the lives of innocent women and children and killed good men."

_But murder isn't the way,_ I retorted, albeit weakly as I stared at the monster before me. _I can't use my powers to kill a person; that's wrong. That's bad. _

"Where would you be without me, Mura?" Shen Si Ling rasped irritably. "How many times have I saved your life?"

I could reply to that with nothing in mind.

Shen Si Ling stared at me for a moment. Then the creepy, bat wing protrusion retracted with a disgusting sound, and her elegant angel wings flapped out like the red carpet.

"Mura," she said; her voice now maternal and gentle, "I watch over you. I protect you. I give you gifts that make you a powerful person. Your friend, Iroh, has been telling you that the more powerful that you become, the more vulnerable that you are. But you have mastered three highly distinguished abilities in the last two weeks. It is miraculous how you have learned them. I saw that you redirected lightning on the mountain."

_I didn't, you did._

"I _barely_ did any of the work, my dear," said Shen Si Ling. "I reopened the portal, knowing that you have been blocking me out; when you were protecting Prince Zuko, I simply nudged you the right way."

I nodded in understanding.

"Mura," said the spirit quietly, "I protect you, not just because you're my link to the mortal world. You have severe anger issues that have never been addressed, and it is because I keep them at bay so that you may have the heart to understand good and evil. But I know the pain that you feel about your parents. I know the betrayal that still burns about Azula. I know that you harbor a distinct _hate_ for the Fire Lord. But, Mura, I also know your fears. I know that you despair to imagine Zuko's death; I know that you fear Ozai's rule over the world. But what makes up for the anger and fear that you harbor is the love and compassion that you express openly."

I met her milky, blank eyes momentarily. They wrinkled slightly, which I took it to mean that she was, in a way, smiling. Her words were emphatic: comforting and warm, like how a mother speaks to a misunderstood child.

"You love Prince Zuko unconditionally," she said. "I know that you see his faults; and he sees yours. And although you feel apart from humans, you are spiritually connected to the fauna around you. Animals and wild life connect with you."

_This is all sounding like Avatar stuff._

"I am close with the Avatar because he is close with the Spirit World. He knows me, and I know him. So you and the Avatar are very much alike. However, he must remain unbiased and to choose what is right and wrong for the world. _I_, Mura, do not give you that ultimatum."

_What do you give me?_

"I give you the chance to show Fire Lord Ozai to see just how powerful you are, to show him all your wonders. Mura, you are faced with many enemies; some of these people _do not_ deserve to live. I've seen Ozai's heart; and what he has in store for the world is more cruel and calloused than anything that has ever been done. And I have seen Azula's heart."

I stared at Shen Si Ling.

"The girl," she continued, "is not too unalike with Prince Zuko. She is misguided, and experiences abuse from her father as well."

_She's treated like royalty! _I thought incredulously.

"She is mentally and emotionally abused by her father. He has set standards for her; and she must meet them by being a perfectionist. She doesn't think that her mother had ever loved her; and so she seeks approval and love from her father."

_Why are you telling me this?_

"Azula is a hard shell, but she is vulnerable to insecurities like the rest of the world. She longs to be treated as an equal like her father, and she has a lust for power that even _he_ fears."

_So he's ashamed of her?_

"Not directly, not yet." Shen Si Ling answered.

_Why come to me now?_

"I know that you fear that you will lose all control if ever you lose your temper. You fear that I will hurt those around you in order to keep you safe."

_It's true,_ I stated boldly.

"You are honest and understanding," Shen Si Ling said patiently, "and even when you are frightened of me, you speak your mind, albeit meekly. Fine, Mura. I will let you fight your own battles; but if you become weakened by your limits, know that there is nothing that I can do to help you."

_I understand._

"Very well."

Without a goodbye, Shen Si Ling vanished.

Everything that had been hovering in the air fell to the ground. The pebbles _pitter-patted_ onto the ground; and the leaves crushed in their simultaneous fall. I looked around me to see if Iroh and Zuko had heard our discussion.

They both were fast asleep.

That night, when I lay back down, I slept the best sleep that I ever had in days.


	18. Talk Dirty to Me

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Eighteen: Talk Dirty to Me

When morning came, and Iroh woke first, I spared no details when I told him what happened last night when he and Zuko were sleeping. I told him that I had seen what Shen Si Ling looked like in her angel and demon forms. I told him that she had known that I was trying to shut her out when I was learning to use my _Naginata._ I told Iroh that Shen Si Ling wanted me to take out the Fire Lord if Aang could not do it. And then I told Iroh that Shen Si Ling agreed that she would let me fight my own battles, unassisted by her powers, and she would stay out of the line when I was being cornered by danger. I told Iroh about what Shen Si Ling said about Azula: how she was being abused by Fire Lord Ozai, but that she didn't know it at the time. It took me less than an hour to spill this information out to him, merely because I _did_ remember every little detail that happened as if it was just a minute ago. When I finished with my miraculous tale, Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully, absorbing my words with considerate time.

Obviously, my story was quite remarkable. It was the first time that I had ever conversed with a true Spirit in my entire life, though it wasn't the first time that I felt the presence of one. Iroh found my tale to be awe-inspiring. He seemed to be ever lost in a theory that Shen Si Ling had finally drawn the line, and that she wanted me to know that there were reasons why she did what she did; even if I couldn't understand them.

Iroh poured me another cup of tea. He seemed to agree that although it was a very good idea for me to learn how to use a secondary weapon, it was not a dangerous thing anymore that I could use my powers again. So we continued my training, as far as manipulating flames, throwing my voice in different parts of the wilderness, and also focusing my energies on self-levitation.

Zuko awoke during my training. Iroh had updated him on the present situation; he seemed rather pleased to know that I was doing what I was meant to do along. However, after half an hour of trying to propel myself more than ten feet off the ground, I could feel my migraines coming back; and I remembered why I didn't use them so often.

Despite my new abilities in psychokinesis, my mind hadn't created a stronger capacity to withstand a longer duration for using my powers. It seemed to me that the more I tried to do at one time, the quicker it seemed that my headaches would come.

When I couldn't stand it any longer, Iroh set me down against the side of the house and gave me a strict recommendation to rest for a moment. Zuko sat down beside me, observed me just for a minute, and then smiled out of the corner of his mouth. Iroh rose to ready the ostrich horse from the other side of the house. When he was out of ear shot, Zuko turned to me with a sweet smile on his face.

"I had a dream last night," he said, "and I think that you were in it."

"Oh, yeah?" I asked casually. I smirked. "What was I doing in your dream, Prince Zuko?"

"That's what you called me," he said. "It was more of a flashback, really."

"Oh." I felt my cheeks blush. "Where did this take place?"

"At the rest house, after we were rescued by those Fire Nation masseurs. That night before we were supposed to be separated," he specified.

"Ah, the first time," I muttered fondly.

"Mm-hm," he confirmed. He laced his fingers in mine. I looked down at our held hands and felt my cheeks burn.

"Ah, fond memories," I said, though my voice had become shaky and breathless. I glanced at him; he wore this look on his face. It was a self-confident smirk. It was mischievous. And I liked the expression on his face. "This dream you had," I said, "would you like it to happen again?"

"I would, Mura."

My name slipped through the air as if it were riding on the back of a silver-tongued snake; I felt a chill crawl down the spine of my back. I already knew that I was more than ready to give another go; the Spirits only knew that our first time was only about two weeks ago, but I felt as if I hadn't been with him in months. It was quite memorable.

And before I could ponder on my words, I heard myself ask,

"When, Prince Zuko?"

"Whenever the opportunity presents itself," answered Zuko.

"Well," I sighed, attempting to sound casual again, "you'll just…let me know when you're in the mood."

"There was something different about my dream though," said Zuko casually, sitting back against the house.

"What was so different?" I asked curiously.

"Well, you were doing something odd with your powers. It was quite…different."

"I'm not sure that I can touch you with my mind," I retorted frankly.

"Well, it was _my_ dream. I think I could make you do anything if I wanted to," he remarked. The sentence itself seemed out of character; though, I have to admit, I liked his combative attitude.

"Is that so, Mr. Royal Britches?"

Zuko gave me dry look.

"You don't exactly give me nice pet names, do you?"

"What? Royal Britches doesn't do it for you?"

He blinked.

I shrugged and added nonchalantly, grabbing for a cup of tea,

"You know, I could always go back to calling you 'Idiot'. _Drop your trousers, my idiot prince…"_

In a bored, monotonous tone unlike Mai's, he retorted,

"I just love it when you talk dirty to me…"

To that, I laughed aloud.

Iroh came around with the ostrich horse.

"We better get a move on," he said. "I know a place nearby that could give us something better to eat than dirt and leaves."

Zuko and I rose to our feet. Zuko mounted the ostrich in the front; I took the middle; and I helped Iroh up to the rear. He was still injured in the shoulder, but his condition seemed to be better than what it had been yesterday.

We were off to another adventure; once more all three of us ready to face whatever would come our way.


	19. Old Friends Are New Enemies

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Nineteen: Old Friends Are New Enemies

Three people on one ostrich horse is a lot of weight, and it made it a rough ride for the animal as it carried us through the flat land, merely shaded by a few trees. The sun was unyielding; and although we were covered by hats and clothing, the warmth was becoming increasingly unbearable. In order to stay balanced upon the constant bump of the ostrich's trot, Zuko, Iroh, and I had to hold on to one another so that we wouldn't accidentally fall off.

We made it down the rock ledge camp with earnest, all three of us wanting some kind of nourishment…or something _other_ than leaves and the speckled soil for seasoning. I had become wasted on the land of vegetation.

We came through a small cleft in the valley. There was more shade for shelter and I could hear running water in our midst. As Zuko pulled the reigns of the ostrich horse, our little transporter slowed to an easy walk.

As we carried on, I sensed that Iroh was clearly in discomfort; his hands around my waist left momentarily. I glanced over my shoulder to see that he was rubbing his injured side gingerly. Zuko stopped the ostrich horse all together.

"Maybe we should make camp," Zuko suggested.

In a pained voice, Iroh returned,

"No, please. Don't stop just for me."

Zuko carried on, and the ostrich horse continued to trot. From behind me, Iroh's face came out on either side of me in a pointed, exaggerated manner, and he made several pained groans. I managed to conceal a chuckle as Zuko sighed in subtle annoyance. Zuko pulled the reigns decisively, and the ostrich horse obeyed with a startled quail. Zuko dismounted; I followed him. As Zuko tended to Iroh, helping him down, I strode around the front of our animal and patted its beak. I saw Zuko give me a weird look from the right side of my peripheral vision, as always what happened when I started to speak to animals like this:

"Aww, who's a tired, feathery poof?"

The last time that I had spoken to an animal in a baby voice was when Red was my pet. His absence was sore to me, though I never spoke of it. He had died in the explosion on Zuko's ship when the pirates were trying to kill Zuko. My Messenger Hawk wasn't so lucky, and I missed him. However, I was overcome with relief when I saw that Zuko was alive; but that didn't mean that I had so easily abandoned my bond with Red.

The ostrich-horse leaned its beak to my face and nipped my cheek. It made a low noise and pawed the weeds with one webbed foot. Its watery eyes stared back at me.

"Aw, who's so cute? Who's cute? You are. You are, you poofy…"

Iroh groaned and sat down on a large flat rock. Zuko wore an uncomfortable expression as I continued to speak to the ostrich horse. It dipped its head to graze the nearby grass. I smiled at Zuko, who now appeared to look nauseous.

"Don't be offended when I tell you this," he said blandly, "but it freaks me out when you talk to animals like that."

"It comes with the package, Zuko," I retorted.

Beside us, the ostrich horse perked up, pricking its ears. Clearly it detected something unusual. I sensed something as well, though I had been certain that it was just animal life. I was wrong, of course.

Zuko took a defensive posture.

Iroh sighed in annoyance,

"What now?"

From the foliage that surrounded us, a group of Komodo Rhino riders streaked through the brush on all sides: they circled us, with a guarantee of no escape. Zuko and I stood back to back as the riders came to trap us in the circle. I reached my _Naginata,_ ready for anything; though this time, I wasn't above using my powers.

A rhino stamped the ground forcefully, breaking the surface crust. It was ridden by a bald man with a braided ponytail, and he had a hard look in his eyes. As I quickly observed our situation, I realized that each man mounted on their rhino was bearing a different weapon of choice; my eyes landed on a man who held a similar weapon to mine, though his was merely made for fine, sweeping motion. It was a serrated blade, not meant for any sort of use of defense.

Iroh, however, seemed to brighten. He rose to his feet and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder to yield us.

"Colonel Mongke! What a pleasant surprise!"

The man whose eyes were stern and hard smirked condescendingly,

"If you're surprised that we're here, the Dragon of the West has lost a few steps."

He emphasized his remark by making sparks fly from his braces. His men readied their weapons.

"You know these guys?" asked Zuko.

"Sure," Iroh said calmly. "Colonel Mongke and the Rough Riders are legendary. Each one is a different kind of weapons specialist. They are also a very capable singing group."

Mongke frowned.

"We're not here to give a concert. We're here to apprehend fugitives."

I found myself shaking slightly as I gazed around us at our predicament.

The men that surrounded us weren't so little like the Fire Nation soldiers on Azula's barge. They were extremely muscular and all of them looked deadly. One wore a red helmet, concealing his face; his specialty was archery. Over his back, a quiver and a few hand grenades were latched to his clothing; on his rhino, it held a much bigger supply of his weaponry. Beside him was a wielder of heavy metal chains attached to two large, black-steel balls. The other was a master swordsman; and beside him was the aforementioned wielder of guan dao, the weapon that was similar to mine.

I realized that the reason why I was shaking was that I was frightened.

"We won't fight," said Colonel Mongke, "as long as you come with us quietly, willingly, and obediently." He apparently was aiming this at me, considering the fact that he was giving me a very…_suggestive…_gaze in my direction.

"What makes you think that I'll go with you?" I remarked, and I was relieved to hear that my voice betrayed my fear. It was strong.

"As much as I want my money, the Fire Nation princess was clear that you should be taken alive, Commander Mura," said Colonel Mongke.

Before I could respond to that, Iroh spoke first,

"Would you like some tea first? I'd love some."

Iroh's golden eyes glanced at me assuredly. He glanced toward the man with the guan dao.

"How about you, Kachi? I make you as a jasmine man. Am I right?"

Colonel Mongke grew impatient,

"Enough stalling! Round 'em up!"

The dark skinned, pony tailed fighter swung his ball and chain at Iroh; Iroh pushed Zuko and me out of the way, and we ended up on the ground. Iroh deflected the ball away; it redirected and wrapped its chain around the foot of another warrior's rhino. Iroh dodged the fire blasts from Colonel Mongke by tumbling along the ground; he rose back up and swatted the rump of the rhino that had been chained. It took off running, yanking the two warriors away. Iroh waved as he watched them go.

I rose to my feet quickly. As I had expected, Kachi headed toward me upon his Komodo rhino, wielding his guan dao. I steadied myself, though felt my knees shake as the rhino charged toward me. To my surprise and immediate pleasure, the rhino ran forward but halted just an inch in front of me—the sudden stop sent his rider flying forward. Kachi cried out in dismay as he smacked face first into the dirt, dropping his guan dao. I looked at the rhino curiously; it licked my face briefly before running off to find his two retreating companions.

Agitated, Kachi rose to his feet, and took up his weapon. His massive mane of hair had tangled angrily all over the place, but his eyes bore clear irritation.

"Let's see if you're as deadly without your witchy mind power," he said in an expected low voice. He flew forward with his guan dao raised and struck hard; I stepped out of the way—his rough blade met the soft dirt.

He was much bigger and taller than me, though I learned from Piandao that with my agility and short stature, it was all about perseverance and evasive maneuvering. Though, I had to give the master a congratulatory effort.

Iroh wasn't kidding when he said that the Rough Rhinos were known for their specialty. I was breathing hard as I parried and struck Kachi, and he recuperated easily.

"You're running out of energy," Kachi breathed, also panting hard as he and I sparred.

"So are you…"

Then I saw the flames gorge from his hands as he wielded his weapon—I dropped my_ Naginata,_ and focused almost all my heart and soul into my hands; Kachi struck me across the face and I fell to the ground on my back. Before he could make a penetrating strike, a sudden burst of energy flew from my hands and sent Kachi flying into the air.

He came back to the earth with a loud _thud_.

"Mura, get down!"

From behind me, Zuko grabbed my neck and pulled me to the ground roughly.

"What are _you—?_"

A volley of arrows flew toward us from the archer's bow—Zuko, who acted as my human shield, protecting my head from external danger, raised a hand and torched the arrows. They were burned to mere piles of ash, which fell to the ground in front of me in wisps.

Zuko rose to his feet and let out a second fire blast loose, which burned a hole in the archer's bow, a mere hand's width above the archer's hand. The blast passed through the bow and broke the string, making the weapon absolutely useless.

Zuko charged the archer. He climbed up the tail of the rhino in remarkable grace, dodging the rhino's snapping mouth. The archer turned to fight him off, but Zuko flipped onto his hands and created an impressive ring of fire which threw the archer off his seat.

Iroh and I came forward to Colonel Mongke, who fired several, molting blasts of fire at us. Iroh deflected each. I jumped onto the horn of the mounted beast and blocked Mongke's view of Iroh. Mongke grabbed my ankle to throw me off balance—I kicked him hard in the face, to which he roared with frustration. As another blast fire of fire started to emerge from his other hand; I grabbed his flaming palm. With concentration not a problem for me anymore, the increasing warmth on my hand which was the initial burn from the Firebending expelled from me and redirected back to him.

Mongke cried out in clear pain as the fire ate through his skin. Before he could retaliate, Zuko repeated what he did to the archer: he climbed up the back of the Rhino's tail and gave a powerful roundhouse kick to the colonel's spine. Mongke collapsed to the ground.

Behind us, Iroh ran up to the ostrich horse, jumped onto the saddle, and rode toward us. I jumped first, landing just barely making it; then Zuko jumped from Mongke's rhino as Iroh galloped by.

Behind us, the armored warrior who rode in pursuit threw a grenade. It exploded ahead of us. Smoke eluded our vision. I rose from the saddle and made a gesture to part the air. It obeyed. When we were out of the explosion, I waved a hand to close the curtain of smoke to use it for a shield.

Zuko wrapped his hands around my waist. Iroh sighed,

"It's nice to see old friends."

Zuko's moody tone retorted from behind me,

"Too bad you don't have any old friends that don't want to attack you."

Iroh pondered it.

"Hmmm…Old friends that don't want to attack me…"


	20. Questions, Thoughts, Concerns

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty: Questions, Thoughts, Concerns

The diminishing forest that we had been traveling through opened out to a clearing to a nearby town. According to our natural surroundings, I gathered that the Misty Palms Oasis was the starting line for travelers who were going to enter the desert. We had been traveling for two weeks straight through nothingness; so when we came upon the town, it was like paradise, but only for a short while. We had been continuing our journey on foot, for the ostrich horse that we had used for transportation had become ragged and travel-worn. In order to preserve what little life it had, I made the suggestion of handing it off to an elderly traveler whom we had passed. The old man gave us an interesting sum of money for the charitable act that day.

When we finally entered the town, I immediately knew that these characters that stood around, leaning against the walls of lowly built shacks, and whom all wore unhappy looks were not exactly the sort of people to befriend. What was more disturbing was that as we passed through the town, I felt several eyes burning in my direction. Zuko apparently felt this, too, for he took my wrist in his hand and pulled me close to him to deter wandering hands and probing eyes. Iroh had glanced behind his shoulder to see this furtive action from his jealous nephew, and I caught a small smile on his face as he turned back around. The people around us were desperate characters, all waiting for some kind of miracle of riches and glory; and although that seemed a bit of a stretch in a town so out of the way like this, fortunes would change drastically if—oh, I don't know—three fugitives with bounties on their heads simple _strolled_ into the nearby tavern.

Zuko might have sensed my reasonable anxiety, for his hand fell from wrist and entwined my fingers with a gentle, but firm squeeze. I glanced at him swiftly; he looked straight ahead with a frown on his face. Iroh led us into the tavern so casually, as if we were mere tourists.

Before we entered the bar, I took a quick look to the left where a bulletin board stood weakly on four pegs; I caught a glance of a few posters that I recognized instantly: two of them were Iroh and Zuko, a third was the Blue Spirit, and the fourth was the Avatar. The fifth one was supposed to have been me, but I have to say that the Fire Nation might have given up their excellent sketch artist after Aang was drawn. The wanted poster of me had me with extremely orange hair; and apparently, the sketch artist had decided that my overall appearance was to resemble a humanized version of a platypus bear. I was actually offended that the poster was dedicated to me as being a hideous woman rather than what I am.

I'm not the prettiest girl to have ever walked the earth, but I'm sure that I look like any other creature besides a platypus bear…

Anyway…

Iroh led us to the bar that neighbored the pathetic display of the ice spring. The reason why this place was named the Misty Palms Oasis was that the fountain of water was supposed to be a pristine grandeur, the most impressive display of water continuation ever known to man. Well, 100 years had made the _huge ice spring_ into what looked like a very small pile of dry ice. It was delightful to look at, but it made the rest of the dung hill seem so decrepit.

Iroh brought us to a table. While he left his seat to go to the bar keep to order some food and juice, Zuko and I stayed to ourselves.

"I don't like it here," I muttered quietly.

"I can tell," he returned. I felt his hand pat my knee with quiet console.

"Why does your uncle think that _this_ place is a good place to eat? We were better off in the flat lands."

Zuko shrugged his shoulders.

When Iroh returned, Zuko voiced his opinion,

"No one here is going to help us. These people just look like filthy wanderers."

"So do we," Iroh reminded him.

Iroh's face brightened, and he pointed in the direction from where his delight had issued. Zuko and I followed his gaze to an old, bald man sitting at a Pai Sho table.

"This is interesting. I think that I've found our friend."

It clicked in my head that Iroh must have recognized the man because he was member of the Order of the White Lotus; and Iroh might have brought us here _because_ he knew that the man was here. Although I felt quietly relieved to know that this just wasn't a decision on the spot, I knew that we were still in partial danger if the patrons around us recognized who we were.

Zuko disregarded his uncle's declaration with a frown and an annoyed tone,

"You brought us here to gamble on Pai Sho?"

Iroh motioned for us to follow him.

"I don't think that this is a gamble," Iroh stated.

In the corner of my eye, I saw two men sitting on a bench beside the bar. One was dressed as a pro-bending wrestler: he was most likely a con-artist, and if I was to judge his clothes, he was an Earthbender. His companion, though, was what brought my attention to them. The second man was wearing fancy robes: they weren't as prestigious as the upper class, but I could tell that this man had never felt the sweat of breaking one's back during physical labor. He was more temperamental than his companion. The second reason why these two men in particular stood out to me above the rest was because they weren't simply enjoying a couple of drinks.

They were watching us.

Iroh smiled at the man at the table.

"May I have this game?"

"The guest," the player said politely, accepting Iroh's offer, "has the first move."

Iroh placed his selected white lotus tile in the middle of the board; this was to show membership. After I had asked Iroh about the importance of becoming a high-ranked member of the Order, he had informed me of the way that anonymous members would recognize others in ambiguous situations…like this.

The Pai Sho player looked upon Iroh's first move with interest.

"I see that you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways."

"Those who do can always find a friend," Iroh replied.

The player waved his arms with warm welcome,

"Then let us play."

The player placed another tile on the board; Iroh quickly placed his tile as well. Zuko and I sat down and watched this action shift between the two members in rapid succession. Zuko seemed annoyed; and I was certain that he did not know what was happening.

When they were done, the tiles formed the shape of a lotus, with the lotus tile in the center. Iroh and the Pai Sho player smiled at one another.

"Welcome, brother," the player greeted sincerely. "The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."

Zuko sighed irritably,

"What are you old gasbags talking about?"

I smiled notably at his comment. _Funny guy._

Neither gasbag took offense to his comment. Iroh collected the white lotus tile from the game board and rolled the tile in his knuckles.

"I always tried to tell you that Pai Sho is more than just a game."

As soon as he had finished his sentence, the man that I had spotted as a gruff Earthbender rose from his seat on the bench and stormed toward us in mid-sentence while he had been speaking to his partner,

"_I'm not waiting all night for these geezers to finish yapping!_" he approached us with an authoritarian stance. Zuko rose to his feet, as did Iroh. Zuko grabbed my hand and pulled me up. He stepped protectively in front of me.

The Earthbender frowned at Zuko and pointed to me from over Zuko's shoulder,

"You two are coming with me, and the girl is going to the Fire Nation princess—"

Iroh's game board buddy strode around from the table and stepped in front of us, pointing at the three of us accusingly.

"I knew it! You three are wanted criminals with a giant bounty on your heads!"

Zuko gritted his teeth angrily at his uncle,

"_I thought you said that he would help!"_

"He is," Iroh said calmly. "Just watch."

The Pai Sho player raised his voice for the entire tavern to hear,

"You think you're going to capture them and collect all that _gold?_"

At the word 'gold', all the men in the bar looked up; several of them pulled out knives, looking menacingly at the two captors, Iroh, Zuko, and me. The overall scrutiny was making me nervous. However, the popularity contest won us a chance to get out of the way.

The patrons were, in fact, desperate for loot; though the two people who had confronted us first wanted the money just as badly. A bar brawl ensued as the patrons attacked the more brawny Earthbender; and his companion gracefully expelled other attacks.

The Pai Sho player motioned us to follow him; and Iroh, Zuko, and I raced out of the back door of the tavern and into the darkness of the small town.

We entered a building. When the Pai Sho player was sure that no one was watching, he closed the door, turning to us. The inside of the building was apparent that it belonged to a florist. Considering that this was evidently one of the headquarters for the Order of the White Lotus, it didn't surprise me at all. The Pai Sho player turned to Iroh.

"It is an honor to welcome such a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus. Being a Grand Master, you must know so many secrets."

Iroh set a hand on my shoulder and introduced me to the player as being one of the grandmasters as well. I felt a blush creep across my neck and flood my cheeks when the player bowed to me respectively.

Zuko was impatient through all of this,

"Now that you played Pai Sho, are you going to do some flower arranging, or is this club going to offer some real help?"

Iroh shook his head and turned to his fellow comrade as we followed said comrade to the back of the shop.

"You must forgive my nephew. He is not an initiate and has little appreciation for the cryptic arts."

The Pai Sho player accepted this and knocked on a door. A small window in the middle slid open a pair of green eyes peeked through, blinking once.

"Who knocks at the guarded gate?"

"One who has eaten the fruit," answered Iroh, "and tasted its mysteries."

I looked at Zuko and nudged him playfully in the gut,

"Nothing like the vague concepts of life, eh?"

Zuko rubbed his stomach.

"Ha, ha, funny." Zuko retorted, unamused.

The door opened and Iroh and the Pai Sho player entered. Iroh gestured for me to enter, but I politely declined.

"I'll stay out here with Zuko," I said, sitting on top of a crate.

Iroh nodded. He closed the door behind him.

Zuko turned to me.

"What is the Order of the White Lotus?" asked Zuko curiously.

I sat cross-legged and folded my hands in my lap.

"In Iroh's words_: __'It an ancient and secret society that transcends boundaries of the four nations, seeking philosophy, beauty, and truth; we are devoted to sharing the ancient knowledge across national and political divides.'_ When I trained with Piandao, he made me a Grandmaster."

"Why?"

"It's all about the balance. I'm the only person in the world, aside from the Avatar, who may know the importance and necessity of world balance. Iroh told me that I'm also the only person who can control everything with the mind; so because I am a _master_ at this, that's why I was given the title." I shrugged. "I don't mean to offend the cryptic arts, but it really doesn't mean anything to me."

Zuko sat beside me. We said nothing for a moment. I turned to him hesitantly.

"I met Shen Si Ling after what happened on the mountain," I began softly. Zuko' golden eyes glanced at me when I started to speak. "She told me something about your sister."

"What did she have to say about Azula?"

I licked my lips uncertainly.

"I know that she's cruel," I said lightly, "but I think that Azula is a cracked glass about to shatter."

"No kidding."

"She's hurt, you know…" I muttered.

Zuko frowned.

"I bet living in the palace and getting my father's approval makes it a lot easier for her, don't you think?" he retorted darkly. "Everything comes so easy to her. My father thinks the world of her. And my mother…" His voice trailed off. "Well, I'm not sure what she thought about Azula."

"I think deep down, I want to reconcile with her," I admitted freely.

Zuko stared at me incredulously.

"She doesn't think of you as a friend anymore, Mura. You're a pawn to her, a simple trophy."

"And I suppose that she was your Godsend when she offered to take you home to Ozai," I retorted unhappily. "Zuko, if you think so badly of your sister, why do you fall for her tricks?"

"She's a very good liar…" Zuko said coarsely. "Azula always lies."

I sighed dejectedly.

"I know that Azula is a terrible person; but I thought that about you before I started to get to know you." I said gently, holding Zuko's hand. "I thought that you were a pampered prince before Iroh told me what happened to you, what your father did."

"And what, you think Azula is different on the inside?" Zuko said with a scorned smile. "You think that if you become her friend, she'll simply welcome you like good buddies? Have you even _met_ Azula?"

I considered his words.

"Maybe you're right." I mumbled sadly.

Another wave of silence came over us. Then Zuko spoke after a minute or two,

"So if you can do that crazy mind power again, how is it that you know that your spirit won't work again? That's why you stopped using your powers the first time, right? Because it opened the door…or something?"

"I pretty much asked her to stay out the way…" I answered.

"That's a problem, isn't it? When you're in trouble, it's always been that spirit doing all the work. How are you supposed to defend yourself without all that summoned power?"

I shrugged.

"I guess I better learn, shouldn't I?"

He looked at me blankly.

"You didn't think this through, did you?"

"Nope," I answered quickly. "Not really."

The door opened again and Iroh stepped out.

"What's goin on?" asked Zuko. "Is the club meeting over?"

"Everything is taken care of," Iroh answered calmly. "We're heading to Ba Sing Se."

Zuko questioned my feelings exactly,

"Ba Sing Se? Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom Capital?

The Pai Sho player answered this.

"The city is filled with refugees. No one will notice three more."

"We can hide there in plain sight," Iroh explained. "And it's the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation." With a small chuckle, he added, "Even I couldn't break through the city walls."

The door to the outside opened. The four of us turned in question to see a member of the White Lotus enter the shop, holding three forms.

"I have the passports for our guests, but there are two men in the streets looking for them."

Iroh and Zuko looked out of the small door window. Their expression confirmed that the aforementioned two men were the same that caused the bar brawl. The Pai Sho Player led us to the back of the shop. He showed us to three large flower vases, big enough to fit a grown adult male. He took the three tops off the vases and indicated for us to get in them. Each of us took one.

There was more than enough room as I slipped inside the vase. The player baded us good fortune; he looked at me pointedly.

"Miss, it would be a good idea for you to change your appearance when you get the city; also, don't do any funny business with the pots."

"The wanted posters change my look for me," I retorted jokingly.

"Hm, all right, I guess," the player returned. "But no funny business, Miss. Don't float or anything or…or conjure up some crazy monsters to tap dance…"

I gave Iroh and Zuko a dry look and turned to see the player's serious face.

"What exactly do you people think that I can do?" I asked rhetorically.

I slipped into my pot and covered my head with the top. Then I was encased in complete darkness. We stayed like this until we came upon Full Moon Bay.

I will elaborate in the next chapter.


	21. Full Moon Bay

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-One: Full Moon Bay

We didn't make the entire road to Full Moon Bay encased in the flower vases. The nice florist took us as far as the outskirts of some trees, which were perpendicular to Chameleon Bay. The florist told us that all we had to do was follow the edge of the ocean, but not to deter from the path, lest we get lost. The trip took a day and a half in order to get to Full Moon bay. The entrance was an underground tunnel led by three friendly Earthbenders. They didn't speak to us; it was a common decency among refugees not to pry into a stranger's life. When they lowered an earth wall at the end of a lengthy tunnel, we were shown the entrance to the refugee camp, and embark of the ferry ride that would take us to the outskirts of the Earth Kingdom.

Before Zuko, Iroh, and me, the Full Moon Ferry Landing was a gloomy, cavernous inlet. There were three large ships that were anchored past a fortified wall: nobody—even the Fire Nation—would spot anybody. Behind the harbor wall, hundreds of people had gathered on the stone landing. The number of refugees didn't shock me. I had been to Ba Sing Se before, when I was a little girl; and even after five years, things hadn't changed. I turned to see Zuko's expression, and it was of shock.

"The Fire Nation did this…?" he asked in quiet incredulity.

"Lives have been destroyed, Zuko," I replied gently. "Everyone is looking for a better life. Maybe you can start a new one, hm?"

He gave me a vague look, one that I couldn't distinguish from annoyance or purpose; however, he looked back to see the mass. Among the refugee numbers, several were children under eight. They clung to their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and were crying from empty stomachs. Many of them looked malnourished. And I wondered how long it had been since they had last eaten some decent food.

Slightly saddened, I followed Iroh and Zuko through the crowd. Iroh approached the ticket-counter. There was a man at the podium, a rather unflattering-looking fellow. He could have barely passed for eighteen. He looked over the counter, where Iroh had placed our passports on the grimy surface.

"Three tickets for the ferry ride," said Iroh with a smile.

The young man showed no interest; he was perusing an article of Earth Kingdom machinery in his hands. He glanced at Iroh nonchalantly then turned back gaze into his magazine. Zuko quickly became impatient, for the ticket-counter showed no sign of respecting Iroh.

"Hey, you," snapped Zuko, stepping in front of Iroh. "Pay attention."

The man glanced at Zuko, more intently, but shrugged his shoulders and resumed his lazy attitude, reading the next page.

I set a hand on Zuko's shoulder and silently pulled him away from the counter. I approached the young man and smiled warmly at him. He apparently noticed me from his peripheral vision. His eyes cascaded swiftly over my face.

"Sir," I said with a forceful seductive tone, "I wouldn't want to steal any more of your time; but I would very much appreciate it if you gave me a way to board the ferry."

He lowered his magazine.

A smile pricked his dry lips.

I caught his attention. The ticket-counter leaned forward. I could practically name a farm where he had been prior to his minimum wage job as a stand-in. I concealed a wrinkle of disgust as he smiled widely.

"How much appreciation would you show me?" he asked in a raspy voice.

I saw Zuko jolt uncomfortably beside Iroh; his uncle steadied him with a hand on his arm. I didn't answer the young man. He shrugged and reached for the black stamp.

"You're beautiful," he said coolly. "How about a trade?"

He handed me two of the tickets and passports, leaving the third on the counter, unstamped.

"A trade for what?" I asked forcibly, smiling serenely at him. Apparently my charade was working for wonders; for a crude smirk appeared on his face as I had asked the question.

"A ticket for a date."

Zuko clenched his fists at his sides. He had enough.

I watched with obvious relish as Zuko stepped up to podium, reached over the counter, and grabbed the ticket salesman by the neck of his collar. Through gritted teeth, he demanded in a dangerous, low voice,

"_Stamp the damn ticket_."

The young man quickly did as he was told and wearily handed it off to me.

"How about the date?" he called after me as we started to walk away.

Zuko wrapped an arm around my waist and called back to him hotly,

"_She's taken!"_

We boarded the ferry with fifty other people.

The first night seemed to be a reminder of just how little refugees mattered to the world. And Zuko grew steadily frustrated about how we were treated on board. Although the soldiers were good to us, and we were fed in three meals; it was like we were on a very lenient prison ship. The blankets that we slept on were moth-eaten, worn, and barely provided any comfort at all. The water that we drank was warmed by the sun, and it parched us, despite how much we consumed. The food was basic slop in a bowl, molded by the sun and expiration; even the broth with which the meat was served seemed watered down, and very unfulfilling.

It was mid-morning when I woke from a hard sleep, though I felt as if I hadn't slept at all. Zuko and Iroh were up, observing the ocean's grand mass. I rose from the wooden planks to stand beside Zuko, who was already annoyed. Iroh accompanied his head with a flowered straw hat and a grin on his face.

Iroh definitely treated this situation like a vacation.

I leaned over the railing beside Zuko.

He glanced at me.

Last night, when I had been leaning against the wall of the ferry railing, I had coaxed Zuko into sleeping on my lap, rather than trying to snooze on the ship's surface. After a bit of small talk, he was out like a light.

Though, I was sure that when he had fallen asleep, it wasn't me that he imagined cradling him in a pair of arms, or combing his hair with a five fingers. I thought that he had imagined me to be his mother, and that was how he had fallen asleep. I don't know. I never asked.

He made a very dim smile at me, which I returned. Iroh looked to the sea.

"Who would have thought, after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace…_as a tourist!_"

Zuko gave his uncle a scornful look.

"Look around," he said grimly. "We're not tourists. We're refugees. I'm sick of eating rotten food; sleeping in the dirt…I'm tired of living like this."

From behind us, a young man's voice replied,

"_Aren't we all?_"

I turned to see who had popped in on our conversation. Although I didn't know him then, I could say now that the man who had approached us on the boat was Jet, the Freedom Fighter. Though to me at the time, he looked like a teenage riffraff who had wondered too far from home. He had two other friends with him, which will be named as followed.

Jet adopted a sly grin as he looked at Zuko, Iroh, and me. As usual, I felt the familiar anxiety when his eyes lingered a minute too long, though he dispersed this observation by stepping toward us and introducing himself.

"My name's Jet," he said, indicating himself with a hand. "These are my Freedom Fighters: Smellerbee and Longshot."

While Zuko carried broadswords, and I carried a _Naginata,_ I noticed that Jet's weapons of choice were two hook swords. I noted this information mildly and glanced at Zuko, who was despondent, merely uttering a greeting with little interest.

Jet stepped closer.

"Here's the deal."

"Ah," I said with approval, "right to the point. I like it."

He gave me a small smile and continued,

"I hear the Captain's eating like a king while we refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

"What sort of 'king' is he eating like?" asked Iroh curiously.

"The fat, happy kind."

I smiled in amusement as Iroh's mouth gaped open, and he started to drool. Jet spoke to Zuko.

"You want to help us _'liberate'_ some food?"

Zuko said nothing for a minute. Then he turned to Jet.

"I'm in," he said defiantly.

At night, Zuko, Jet, and his Freedom Fighters went to the kitchens to find a delicious score. I sat with Iroh against the railing of the ferry, waiting. Upon their arrival, I saw that Zuko and Jet had succeeded in retrieving several bags and bowls of food. Zuko and Jet passed out the food to the thankful passengers. Smellerbee and Longshot sat down while they waited for their leader. When Zuko came back, he handed Iroh and me a bowl and a small bag of what appeared to be freshly baked crumpets. As he sat down, I thanked him by planting a feathery kiss on his cheek. He blushed in front of our new comrades.

Iroh appealed conversation to the Freedom Fighters.

"So, Smellerbee, that's an unusual name for a young man."

Smellerbee was instantly peeved (and for good reason).

"Maybe it's because I'm _not _a man. I'm a _girl!"_

Iroh and Zuko looked equally shocked by this revelation. Iroh called after her,

"Oh, now I see! It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!"

Longshot quickly rose to his feet to catch up to her.

Jet sat down beside me.

"So," he said, engaging conversation with me as he started in on his meal. "You don't look like you belong anywhere, sweetie. That hair is…unique."

"Enough time in the sun, and you can get it to look like any color," I retorted smoothly.

"What are your names?" Jet asked, inquiring the three of us.

"I'm Midori," I answered easily. "This is Mushi, and my boyfriend, Lee," I indicated Zuko on my other side.

"You know," Jet continued eagerly, "from what I've heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."

"It is a magnificent sight," Iroh agreed passively.

"So you've been there before?"

"Once," Iroh admitted, albeit with regret, "when I was a different man."

"As long as you don't do anything that is out of the ordinary," I hissed unhappily, "then they accept you for who you are..."

Iroh glanced at me with a furtive warning look. Iroh's expression went unnoticed by Jet; though the young man recognized resentment when he heard it.

"So I take it that you've been to Ba Sing Se before, eh?" he asked me, interested.

"When I was little," I retorted.

I didn't offer any more information

Jet understood.

"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of; but that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se, for a new beginning: a second chance."

Iroh stated meaningfully,

"That's very noble of you. I believe that people can change their lives if they want to; I believe in second chances."

Jet studied Iroh and Zuko briefly.

Night passed. Iroh had fallen asleep, his stomach full and his eyes heavy. I joined Zuko by the railing of the ship, which was making progress through the early morning mist. The shoreline was nearing in an hour or two.

"Have I ever told you," I volunteered quietly, "how much I hate sailing?"

Zuko looked at me with a considering gaze. I smile slightly. He rolled his eyes.

"You're joking, aren't you?"

"Ah, come on, sweetie; if I hated sailing, I wouldn't have stayed with you on your ship, _Lee_," I retorted confidently. "I could have taken you," I added lazily.

"You don't know that for sure," he muttered.

He made a small smile. I sighed contently.

We were joined by Jet a minute later.

"You know," he said, speaking to Zuko, "as soon as I saw your scar, I knew exactly who you were."

My heart skipped a beat with slight panic, but then—

"You're an outcast, like me," Jet continued. "And we outcasts have to stick together. We have to watch each other's backs because nobody else will."

Zuko replied grimly,

"I've realized lately that being on your own isn't always the best path."

Jet nodded in agreement.

He indicated Zuko and me with curiosity,

"So how long have you two been…?"

"Quite a while," I answered, smiling.

"So you guys must have been through quite a lot to make you want to come to Ba Sing Se."

"Oh," I shrugged. "A few attacks, a few narrow escapes: sort of makes you realize that life on the wild side isn't really a life at all."

"I'd drink to that," said Jet, apparently amused.

We were only a couple hours to the train station; and from the train station, we would finally be free.


	22. The Great City of Ba Sing Se

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Great City of Ba Sing Se

As we came ashore to the outskirts of Ba Sing Se, the city started to look so much more prospering than our ferry. Although I felt a similar anxiety about entering a city where I had been banished when I was twelve, I still considered Ba Sing Se to be a magnificent sight, just like Iroh. The ferry ported, and its patrons emptied the hull. Iroh led Zuko and me to the ticket gate, similar to the one that we had approached back in Full Moon Bay. However, this booth was run by an Earth Kingdom official, and it wasn't a person that I could charm.

The official was a sour, heavy set woman with a large hairy mole above her eyebrow: she was anything but beautiful. As we approached her, she gathered our passports in her large fingers and looked them over dubiously.

"So," she said in a voice that matched her appearance, "Mr. Lee, Miss Midori, and Mr.…umm 'Mushy' is it?"

Iroh held up a finger politely to the woman,

"Actually, it's pronounced 'Moo-shee'."

The customs lady looked up from the papers angrily, obviously not having the greatest day of her life,

"You telling me how to do my job?"

Iroh stepped closer,

"No, no, no."

I smiled with usual amusement as Iroh approached the woman with a charming caress in his voice as he addressed her,

"But may I just say that you're like a flower in bloom; your beauty is intoxicating."

The customs lady smiled, obviously taking the bait.

"You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome," she retorted in a low drawl. Iroh smiled. She made a kitty-cat claw gesture with her hand, "_Roar._" She proceeded to stamp three tickets and pushed them forward for Iroh to take.

Iroh collected them and turned to face us with a proud smile on his face.

Zuko, who had been covering his face while his uncle was charming the lady, dragged his palm across his face; he snatched his papers from Iroh.

"I'm gonna forget I saw that," he said disgustedly.

We entered the gate that led into the train station. Our train was not there, so we had to wait about a good hour or so. We sat against a large pillar, just letting the time tick by. To my right, Jet casually came to sit down beside me.

"So, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?" he asked curiously. "You must have some plans, don't you?" he turned his head to talk to me. "Women always have plans."

"You have any run-ins with girls, Jet?" I asked easily.

"One or two. Aside from Smellerbee, there aren't any girls that joined the Freedom Fighters. I almost had one, but she didn't like what I was doing at the time." Jet shrugged. "I guess it's all about the time in place."

"Well," I said gently, "you'd be surprised where you can find love. Sometimes, it's not even planned."

"You seem like you talk from experience," said Jet with a sweet smile.

Beside us, a tea peddler called to the waiting area,

"Get your hot tea here! Finest tea in Ba Sing Se!"

Iroh waved an arm excitedly.

"Oh! Jasmine, please!"

The peddler poured tea into Iroh's bowl, who delightedly took a sip. His eyes widened in shock and he spat it out in disgust.

"_Blaugh!_ Ugh…_Coldest_ tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it. What a disgrace!"

Zuko rolled his eyes.

Jet leaned in to Zuko.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

Jet gestured to Zuko, who ignored the tea episode, to follow him. Zuko rose reluctantly and sighed. They walked away and started to speak. I looked back at Iroh, who was looking around surreptitiously.

"Iroh, what are you doing?" I asked curiously.

He said nothing. Then I realized what he had done when his cold bowl of tea was steaming vigorously in his hands. I stared at him questionably.

"_Iroh, did you just heat that yourself?_"

Before he could answer, Zuko walked toward us. From behind his back, Jet wore a suddenly hostile suspicious look in his eyes. Jet bristled as he turned on his heel and walked off with his two companions. Zuko watched his retreating back. He took one step toward Iroh and abruptly dashed the cup of tea from his uncle's hands.

"Hey!"

Zuko's face was tinged pink.

"_What are you doing Firebending your tea?"_ he whispered through gritted teeth. "For a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move."

Iroh's eyes fell to the upturned cup on the floor at his feet.

"I know that you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea," he said mournfully with a small sniffle, "that's so sad."

Zuko frowned.

"So what did Jet want to talk to you about?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Seemed to be pretty important if it had to be discussed ten feet away from me," I added with a slight smile.

"He wanted me to join him," said Zuko.

"So why didn't you take him up on his offer?"

"I'm not looking to join in any gang."

I shrugged.

"Well, if you're not chasing after the Avatar anymore, I don't see why not."

He stiffened at the mention of Avatar Aang.

"Well," I sighed, "it looks like we've got another crazy following us." I said.

Zuko gave me a questioning look; I gestured behind his shoulder to show him that Jet and his two other Freedom Fighters were standing a few cars down from where we would board. Zuko turned from the teenage rebel and looked at me.

"You know," I began casually; "it's actually amazing how many people don't know who I am. I mean, I'm not famous or whatever it's called, but it's like every stranger we meet doesn't know that I'm not a Firebender like the two of you."

"Well," said Iroh beside me, "technically you _can_ 'bend' fire."

I nodded, assuming a look of agreement.

The conductor of the train pulling up to our left called for disembarkation,

"Route to Ba Sing Se!"

Iroh indicated to us to follow him. We traveled in single file as we boarded the train. As we entered, we sat down beside a family of four, the mother holding a newborn baby in her arms. Zuko folded his arms across his chest, still obviously angry. Iroh glanced at his nephew before he leaned over to the cradled baby, smiling in adoration.

"What a handsome baby." Iroh complimented with a fatherly ardor.

He tickled the baby's blanket with his finger.

The mother responded, beaming,

"Thank you."

"What's her name?" I asked.

"Hope," answered the young woman.

I smiled appreciatively.

The woman turned to me with a gentle gaze.

"Do you have any children of your own?"

I stared at her, startled.

"What? _No_," I answered. "I'm only sixteen—well, I'm seventeen now, but _no."_

The mother blushed quietly.

"Oh!" she said apologetically. "You look much older than that."

Iroh laughed good-naturedly.

"She gets that a lot," he said, patting me on the shoulder.

The mother's smile returned to her face when she realized that I took no offense by it.

As the train pulled away, and we entered through a long tunnel, and the view opened; I saw the grandeur city with widened eyes. Ba Sing Se seemed to be a country unto itself, surrounded by a great wall, and weaved many railroads. Along the walls were homes, perched against the stone by stilts and mortar. Many market places, shops, and more houses were sprinkled along the cobblestone streets. It certainly had increased in population since I had been in the city. Iroh and I shared the same awe-inspired expression. Zuko took one look at the city and returned to his mood.

"It's everything that I thought it would be," Iroh said beside me.

"You could wander the streets for days," I told him happily, "and you wouldn't run out of tea shops."

"Once more, my dear, you doubt my love for tea," he said.

I will elaborate on our little stay at Ba Sing Se in the next few chapters.


	23. Secrets of Ba Sing Se

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-Three: Secrets of Ba Sing Se

When we disembarked from the train station and entered Ba Sing Se. I remembered why I left Ba Sing Se, despite being a cold-stoned enemy to the city. My spatial sense, the ability to detect life around me, made it very hard to foresee any attack on my party, due to the fact that there was life _everywhere_ within a foot of me. Although I was always aware of the amount of people that were around me, I could always sense the vibrations and brain waves within my perimeter. Someone was always lying. In Ba Sing Se, the government might have had the entire populace fooled—supposedly, nobody was supposed to know about the war within the walls of the impenetrable city. The Dai Li, the head security over the Earth Kingdom, made sure that nobody spoke about any Fire Nation troops attempting to storm the wall.

Of course, nobody had ever entered Ba Sing Se, except for Iroh; though according to history, "he was quickly expunged"...after 600 days of warfare. It's not exactly the quickest record for stopping an invasion, but that's mainly my opinion.

Those who spoke of the war or the possibility that the Fire Nation was infiltrating the city were automatically seized and taken under Lake Laogai to 'reinforce' the safety of Ba Sing Se. The entire Earth Kingdom was run by King Keui, but the man had been given the throne before he was out of diapers. A regent named Long Feng became the head of security while King Keui merely supervised the entertainment and culture of Ba Sing Se; Long Feng controlled the Dai Li, and this made him the ultimate nay-sayer of what happened within the inner walls.

Of course, when I was with Zuko and Iroh, I only knew about the Dai Li, Long Feng, and the purpose of the king because I had been taken in for questioning when I was last in the city. That's when they tried to brainwash me for talking about how Ozai wanted to conquer the entire world (eventually). Shen Si Ling reacted negatively to their treatment of me: hence, why I was banished. Anything that she did through me resulted in negative treatment. Before I could be arrested, I fled the Earth Kingdom and swam through Full Moon Bay…that's how I reached my little island.

Iroh found us an apartment nearby a local tea shop. It wasn't any apartment like they had in the Fire Nation: it was small, but very quaint and homey. It didn't take long for Iroh to enjoy the peace and overall community of the part of the city that we now resided; in fact, he seemed quite taken to the people, even if he didn't know a single thing about them.

Iroh was right, of course. We were able to walk in plain sight on the streets and in the shops without worrying about who our enemies were. The people that we met and spoke to treated us like we were fellow commoners. Nobody in the city cared about how we were refugees, or even if we looked like outcasts.

Ba Sing Se _was_ a place of safety. Slates could be erased and start anew in the city.

I traveled with Zuko as we walked through the streets, observing our surroundings.

"You could start a new life here," I told him. I held his hand as we strolled.

He showed apathy when I said that. I knew that he missed home.

"You know," I said, a bit more sensitive, "you and I could be really happy here. In the city, away from enemies—it's almost like good times. We both are lost, dear…" He stopped and turned to me. I smiled. "I could try to make it like home, love. Maybe not like how you remember; or how I dreamed it to be when I was a young girl."

He frowned sadly.

"We could get by…" I muttered empathically.

Before he could reply, Iroh came out of a florist's shop, catching up to us from behind. He carried a large vase with several orange flowers placed in it. Zuko stared coldly at the flora.

"I just want our new place to look nice," he said to Zuko. "It's not every day that you can decorate an apartment."

"This city is a prison," Zuko resolved. "I don't want to make a life here."

"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not. Now come on, I found us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon."

The tea shop owner that ran his business beside our apartment was our new employer. He was a gentle-looking, middle-aged man who was happy to know that he would have three more servers in his trade.

I knew that Iroh would be all over this place, and it didn't take much time to explain why. The man knew possibly ever tea that ever existed in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually managed to make tea out of snow and tiger seal jerky…

The small tea shop was in the lower ring of the city. The tea shop owner handed us aprons to wear over our clothes. He was glad as he observed our appearances.

"Well, you certainly look like official tea servers. How do you feel?"

"Ridiculous," Zuko said, deflated.

Iroh didn't answer; he was desperately attempting to tie the string behind his back, but the weight of his mid-section forestalled all his efforts.

"Uh," he said with an apologetic smile, "does this possibly come in a larger size?"

"I have extra string in the back," the owner volunteered kindly. "Have some tea while you wait."

The tea owner poured three cups of tea and handed them over to us before he headed to the back of the shop. Iroh took a sip from his cup, but quickly pulled it away, his face contorted in disgust.

"_Eeow!"_ He turned to me with conviction; I backed up in amused surprise, "_This tea is nothing more than just hot leaf juice!"_

Zuko looked at Iroh with an expression that made me chuckle.

"Uncle," he said flatly, "that's what _all_ tea is."

"How can a member of my own family say something so horrible?" Iroh retorted. "We'll have to make some major changes around here."

Zuko rolled his eyes as Iroh grabbed the tea pot and headed over to the window to throw the hot leaf juice out the window.

I gestured at my cup on the table. It floated up in the air and sat in my outstretched palm. Zuko looked at me, suddenly amused. I took a sip of the supposed terrible tea and immediately gagged.

Iroh turned with approval as he watched me restrain myself from vomiting on the floor.

"_That's…_" I gasped, gaining control over my reflex, "the most horrible thing that I've ever tasted…"

We served tea the rest of the day. We received many compliments from the tea that was provided. By night time, we retired to our apartment. In the living room, Iroh worked water into a tea pot, while Zuko lay on a cot, outstretched.

I felt a creeping sensation that I was being watched, though I assumed that my spatial sense was all awry, due to the fact that we all were living in apartment complex. There were people all around us 24/7. I didn't pay much attention to it.

"Would you like a pot of tea?" asked Iroh.

"We've been working in a tea shop all day. I'm _sick of tea!"_

"Sick of tea?" said Iroh incredulously. "_That's like being sick of breathing!"_

He started rummaging through the cupboards beneath the counter.

"Have you seen our spark rocks to heat up the water?"

I rose to my feet and started to help him look for the emerald, green spark rocks.

"They aren't here," I told him.

Iroh shrugged and walked out of the room.

I turned to Zuko, who was watching me.

"You know," I said sweetly, "whenever you look at me the way, I melt."

He smiled slightly.

I gestured to the marbles on the counter. Ten of them floated in the air on my command. Zuko watched with curiosity as each marble hovered above him against the ceiling. I sat on the cot beside him, watching the multi-colored marbles fly in the air. Two were separated from the pack, hovering in still-motion. The others circled the two in a never-ending dance like the planets in the solar system.

They two marbles that didn't move slowly lowered toward Zuko, who took the one on the right in his hand. I took the one on his left.

Zuko looked at me.

"You don't try to pretend to be anything but who you are," he said. "That must be a relief."

"Well," I said quietly, "it makes it easier to live with myself."

Zuko sighed.

He opened his palm to look at the marble that he captured.

"You," I said, pointing to the rock in his hand, "are not like the son that your father wants because you are not your father's son."

He looked at me questionably.

I motioned for the circling marbles in the air. They ceased their rotation and flew up to the ceiling, creating a portrait.

He looked up to follow my gaze. The marbles formed a caricature of Ursa.

"You are your mother's son," I said gently.

"I know," he muttered.

"Then why do you try to be someone that you're not?" I asked softly.

He shook his head.

"It's my destiny. It always been…it always will be."

The marbles fell away from the ceiling and returned to the counter as dejectedly as I felt. Zuko's golden eyes fell away from the ceiling.

Iroh returned to the room.

"I borrowed our neighbors''," Iroh explained, holding up the two spark rocks in his hands, "Such kind people."

The next morning, Iroh had made the tea as he would like it; and we had three times as many customers as yesterday. The tea shop owner surveyed his regulars with pride and approval. Iroh was setting a tray on the counter as I came up to him with an empty one.

"Three more on the Jasmine," I reported to him.

He was grinning excitedly. He gestured to the regulars in the corner by the door. The two men to whom he motioned were neighborly officers of this part of the city. I had served them a few times in the last hour; they had returned for more. Iroh smiled.

"Perhaps they are coming back for more than just the tea," he joked, nudging me. "You do look better with your hair tied up in a braid," he added, nodding his chin up to my head.

I gave him a look.

"It's not a bad thing to acknowledge that men like you, my dear," he said furtively with a hand behind his mouth as Zuko passed us with a tea tray. "My nephew is not the only person who finds you attractive."

I blushed pink when I glanced at the officers by the door, both of whom were looking at me with kind, charming smiles.

"Shut up…" I hissed.

Iroh handed me the tray of tea to serve to the officers. He followed me with a pot of tea for refills. As I approached the officers, they appreciatively took their cups.

"You know," said one of them closest to me, "it's rare to see a woman with such…blonde hair." He showed no sign of suspicion, mere admirable observation. Iroh smiled slyly as the other officer dropped some change into my apron. He had given me the same tip this morning and in the afternoon. "You look too young to be working."

"Oh, I feel like I've been working all my life," I retorted with a nervous chuckle.

"Hopefully, you're not traveling the city alone," suggested the officer curiously.

"No, I live with this man," I indicated Iroh. I gestured to Zuko, who was setting cups on the table on the opposite side of the room. "And I live with him."

The officer apparently approved of my living situation.

"Well, I couldn't think of a better place for a woman to be: living with two men who care for her. It's so nice to see a decent home every now and again. Have you lived here long?"

"No," I answered casually. "I traveled a lot. Never settled down anywhere."

"Too dangerous?" asked the other officer.

I smirked,

"Too boring."

The two officers laughed sincerely.

I glanced at Iroh, who nodded in approval as I made light of our situation.

The officer closest to me looked at Iroh.

"This is the best tea in the city!"

Iroh held up the tea pot meaningfully.

"The secret ingredient is _love._"

As he said this, Zuko had come up from behind him, and he made a nauseous expression as Iroh weaved his hand through the steam that emitted from the tea pot. I suppressed a burst of laughter, though it came out a rough snort. The officers looked amused at any rate.

I continued to speak with the nice officers. Zuko returned his tray to the counter where Iroh was speaking to his employer.

Not a second later, the door to the tea shop flew open; Jet stepped inside, looking absolutely furious.

"_I'm tired of waiting!"_ He pointed an accusing finger at Iroh and Zuko. "_Those two men are Firebenders!_"

He turned a harsh look to me.

"_And that girl—_that _witch—_she's working with them!"

Jet unsheathed his hook swords and prepared to fight. Zuko and Iroh quickly exchanged a look, unsure of what to do.

The officers glanced at me momentarily before turning their attention to the rebel in the doorway. The sudden outburst had attracted the attention of everyone in the tea shop, focused on him.

"I know they're Firebenders!" said Jet irritably, pointing the finger, when nobody would do anything about it. "And that girl—_her"_ he stepped a pace closer to me "_she's working with them in order to infiltrate the Earth Kingdom capital!_"

The two officers steadily rose to their feet.

"He works in a tea shop," said the one closest to me. "And the girl…" he glanced at me. "She's a tea server…She's harmless."

"They're Firebenders, I tell you! And I saw her use her powers! She's a witch, a witch that works with the Fire Nation!"

The officers looked at me. Apparently, I was not as obvious as I thought that I was. Evidently, five years had taken a toll on my appearance. I was simply—or couldn't be—the telekinetic to whom Jet was referring.

Jet, however, knew about my confliction with Shen Si Ling; though I was never sure how. He knew that the only way to make me use my powers on accident was that if I was in imminent danger. He wasn't aware, though, that I had dismissed this as one of my weaknesses when I had a spiritual connection with Shen Si Ling.

"Come on, girl," said Jet, approaching me with his hook swords. "You're defenseless; and the only way that you can fight me off is that you have to use your sorcery."

"Step away from the young lady, boy," warned the officer beside me.

I stepped back as Jet came closer. Iroh stood beside me. I saw Zuko's face fall into disapproval as Jet came closer to us.

"Drop your swords, boy," said the officer as he steadied his hand on the hilt of his dual swords. "Nice and easy."

"You'll have to defend yourself," said Jet, now to Iroh and me. "Then everyone will know. Go ahead, you cowards. Show them what you know…"

Jet poised his hook swords and slowly walked toward Iroh and me. One of the officers prepared to draw the swords at his waist, but Zuko stepped in front of him and grabbed for the hilt instead.

Zuko unsheathed the officers' double broadswords and entered the fighting stance.

"You want a show?" challenged Zuko as he stopped Jet from walking toward Iroh and me. "I'll give you a show."

Zuko pulled a table out in front of him with his foot and kicked it at Jet. Jet sliced his hook swords into the table and jumped over it. As he landed, Jet swung both his hook swords down at Zuko, who deflected the attack and jumped backward onto the other table. Jet swung one sword through the middle of the table, slicing it in half. Zuko stepped to one half of the table and balanced on one foot. So Jet followed up his attack by cutting through the legs on the half of the table that Zuko stood on; Zuko quickly hopped on to the half that was still standing and landed in a crane stance.

Amazing balance, agility, and grace made Zuko an excellent sword master.

Jet knocked this half to the ground, but Zuko jumped into the air and swung both broadswords at Jet's feet as he landed. Jet somersaulted away and landed in a crouching position before charging forward at Zuko again. As Zuko swung both his swords at Jet, both pairs of weapon clashed together.

Iroh and I stepped back as the fight came closer to us.

Jet looked over his hook swords and yelled to me,

"Looks like your boyfriend could use some help with your witch powers; why don't you use your mind to smash my brains?"

I narrowed my eyes at him irritably, though it seemed that Zuko pretty much took care of it for me.

He pushed Jet away with his foot, kicking the Freedom Fighter in the gut and sending him to the floor.

"Leave her out of this," snarled Zuko, stepping forward.

Jet hiked up a hook sword in his hand and flung it toward me. Iroh grabbed my shoulders and pulled me to the floor as the hook sword flew over my head and stabbed the wooden counter above me. Seeing this, Zuko charged Jet aggressively—Jet pushed him aside to retrieve his hook sword. I rolled away from Iroh as Jet grabbed the sword from the counter and came wielding at me like a crazy madman.

I jumped from table to table as Jet came after me. Losing balance, I tripped and fell between two tables, landing in a heap on the floor. Jet came charging on the table top; he took a leap of faith—a hand grabbed his ankle and threw him to the ground. Zuko leaned over the table and helped me to my feet.

Jet grabbed Zuko by the collar and threw him through the door. I followed the fight outside as Jet and Zuko brawled on the city streets.

"You must be getting tired of using those swords. Why don't you go ahead and Firebend at me?

The combatants locked swords momentarily. They both struggled to gain control and walked off to the side. Iroh stood in the door way watching, worried. The swords clung in the night, metal on metal; and the fighters grunted as blows landed.

"Please son," said Iroh to Jet, "you're confused. You don't know what you're doing!"

Zuko swung at Jet, but Jet caught Zuko's broad sword with the end of his hook swords, spun around, and deflected it to the side. Zuko spun with it to counter jet.

"Bet you wish he'd help you out with a little fire blast right now!"

Jet swung the blades at Zuko's feet; Zuko stabbed one of the broad swords through the hilt, pinning it to the ground.

"_You're_ the one who needs help," Zuko snapped.

Both fighters were down one sword. Jet released his pinned hook sword and retreated back a step. He turned in a circle to swipe at Zuko, but Zuko quickly advanced and swung his sword at Jet in a horizontal motion. Jet pulled his attack just in time to bend backward and avoid Jet's blade.

He regained balance and jumped backward onto the edge of a well.

Now several people were watching them on the street.

"You see that?" he said to the crowd. "The Fire Nation is trying to silence me. It'll never happen."

"They're not Fire Nation!" I cried out, pulling out of the doorway from Iroh. "You've lost your senses completely!"

"Says the witch to the helpless Fire Nation boy," retorted Jet angrily.

Zuko growled as he swung his broadsword at Jet.

"_She's not a witch!"_

Jet parried Zuko's attack and stepped to Zuko's side. The two were fighting back to back. Each opponent attempted to strike the other, but neither could get past the other's defense.

From the crowd, two Dai Li agents appeared, walking toward the sword fight.

"_Drop your weapons!"_ said the first, on the left.

Zuko and Jet stepped away from each other. Zuko lowered his sword. Jet pointed an accusing sword hook at Zuko, Iroh, and me.

"Arrest them!" cried Jet. "They're enemies of the Earth Kingdom! The men are Firebenders; and the girl is a witch!"

The Dai Li agents glanced at me.

"The missing girl, Mura Lynn, is dead," said the Dai Li agent to the left.

I quirked my eyebrow at the sudden revelation; Zuko, too, seemed perplexed by the statement.

"No," said Jet, "she's not. She's right there. I saw what she did; she levitated stuff. She's a witch!"

"Mura Lynn is dead," repeated the Dai Li agent, unyielding.

"_No, she's not. I'll attack her, and she'll have no way of defending herself without using her powers._"

Jet wielded a hook sword and threw it at me like a javelin. Zuko stepped in front of me and snatched it out of the air before it could penetrate my heart. He tossed it to the floor.

The Dai Li were not convinced. Jet frowned angrily.

"This poor boy is confused," said Iroh, stepped up. "We're just simple refugees."

The tea shop owner pointed to jet,

"This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees."

The officers who had been the shop stepped forward to the agents.

"It's true, Sir," volunteered the officer who had paid me such nice compliments. "We saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city; and he nearly tried to kill this young man's girlfriend"—he indicated Zuko then me.

Iroh blushed at the officer's compliment to his tea-making skills,

"_Oh, ho ho ho. _That's very sweet."

The Dai Li walked up behind Jet, who looked at them angrily.

"Come with us, son," said one of them.

Jet swung his hook sword rebelliously at the Dai Li guard who had spoken; but the agent easily caught the blade with his hand, which was shielded in a stone-covered glove. The guards disarmed Jet and pulled the boy's arms behind his back, binding his wrists together using the stones on their palms. They dragged away Jet towards the wagon designed for holding captured criminals. As they flung doors closed, I heard jet proclaim desperately,

"_You don't understand! They're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!"_

The crowd began to disperse as the wagon rolled away.

And although Zuko and I weren't aware of it at the time, this was the last time that we would ever see Jet.


	24. Opened Books

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-Four: Opened Books

Iroh, Zuko, and I were in Ba Sing Se for a month at the very least. It was actually quite peaceful once the craziness with Jet died down. Iroh was making the tea shop a primal success; and the more tea that he served, I realized that it brought in higher-class citizens. They came from the upper ring where the flowing robes and bejeweled fancy rings existed. It was a very pleasant experience to be treated like honored citizens without ever any of them asking me if I was a witch. Many of whom had heard Jet's exclamatory remarks about my so-called sorcery had expelled the matter of an insult.

I think that many actually thought that Jet had been an ex-boyfriend of mine; and that what had resulted at the tea shop had been a dispute that was intervened by Zuko. What resulted from that was praise from the patrons, exclaiming how lucky that I was to have such a protective beau around to protect me.

While Iroh loved his situation—serving tea, living the simple life—I still knew that Zuko wanted more than just a life serving tea. He wanted the Avatar, though there was no way of tracking the Aang down, especially in a city where war wasn't an conversation starter. War was an infectious disease that was quickly quarantined: we couldn't just waltz up to the first house we saw and asked if they had seen the Avatar lately.

I was certain that many of them still believed that the Avatar didn't even exist: and if they did, they held no hope or support for him. A person who would disappear for a hundred years was a person who was not at all brave like the once-known Avatar Roku. However, I had hopes of Avatar Aang. Roku's defeat was indecision, a weakness to eliminate Sozin. I hoped that the Avatar would learn from the mistakes of his past lifetimes.

One night, I sensed that Zuko was growing extremely irritated with our situation. He barely spoke a word to me; and I found this disturbing. He had been in the city for far too long; and he hated it. Although I took pleasure in feeling at home with the rest of the patrons, I was discomfited to see Zuko so out of place, and so angry all the time.

It was a helpless feeling where it felt like I should help him, but I didn't know what to do in order to do that.

Zuko had retired to his room, lying in the dark and staring up at the ceiling.

Iroh went out on a midnight stroll, a particular habit of his. I entered Zuko's dark room.

"You haven't been happy all this time," I began meekly.

Zuko said nothing.

I walked further into the room to see him lying on his cot. He had his head propped up against the headboard, his hands resting beneath the pillow. Zuko had never looked so calm. The fact that he was calm seemed to perplex me; though at the same time, I was relieved.

"Uncle wants me to make the best of the situation," said Zuko finally after a long minute of silence. He continued to look up at the ceiling as if something was there, though I couldn't see it. "But the fact is this: the best thing that's happened so far is that we got off that boat."

"It was merely a temporary thing," I dismissed. "It was a ferry for fugitives, Prince Zuko. It wasn't going to be primped and pampered like Azula's barge."

"I'm saying that I'm not used to living like this: in the secret all the time. It's humiliating." Zuko said, up front. "You're so happy all the time." He met my eyes. "You always find some way to joke about everything that happens to us." He sat up. "Not everything is bright and colorful. You're an awful lot like Ty Lee."

"I choose to be optimistic," I retorted calmly. "I choose to look at the brighter side. It helps. But I'm also realistic. Iroh's right. You should be happy that we're not being hunted anymore."

"We shouldn't have to hide who we are," Zuko said unhappily.

"We are a Fire Nation prince and a well-known telekinetic," I said clearly, sitting down. "If the Dai Li were to catch on that we're fugitives, there would be dire consequences."

"Well, you don't really have to worry; the entire government thinks you're dead." Zuko reminded me matter-of-factly.

"It's safest that they do," I sighed.

"Well, aren't you upset about it? Your parents might think that you're dead, and it's not true."

I smiled weakly.

"The odds that they are still alive are very slim," I said.

"But you wouldn't know for sure unless you came back with me," Zuko said, a bit too harsh. "_I know,"_ he added waspishly when I started to speak. "You won't come back to the Fire Nation."

"It's dangerous for me to go back. It's dangerous for you. Zuko," I said, "please, try to understand. You must know that you can choose your own destiny. It's not written in stone."

"If I do try to find the Avatar again," said Zuko hesitantly, "will you help me?"

I frowned.

"I told you before: I will help you capture him; but the moment you choose to kill him, I'll react."

We said nothing for a moment.

"Perhaps we should go out for a little while," I suggested gingerly, searching for a lighter topic.

"What? Why?"

"Because you've been locked up in your room for hours. Get some fresh air. With me," I added, rising to my feet. "Come on. You still owe me a date."

Zuko sighed begrudgingly.

"Why now?"

I smirked; I snapped at the cot upon which he was lying.

"_What the—?"_

It rose like a person standing up, and flipped Zuko off the mattress. Zuko landed on his feet beside me. He turned to watch the mattress float back down onto the rack. He gave me a look.

"_Fine…_" he mumbled.

"Ah, get over yourself, Prince Zuko. A little fun won't kill you."

I grabbed his hand and guided him out of the apartment.

We went to the town square where there was a small festival happening. It was a grand midnight party, where a feast was provided. Festive music and the overall hoop-la of the atmosphere guaranteed innocent fun.

"Why did you bring me here?" asked Zuko in a platonic, bored voice as I led him to the middle of the square, through the dancing crowd. The music slowed to a rhythmic beat.

"You're uptight," I said, standing in front of him. "Just dance with me, will you?"

"Your idea of fun is—"

"Just shut up and wrap your damn hands around me!" I interrupted him, grabbing his wrists to demonstrate the order. He complied. His cheeks reddened as I drew my hands around his neck.

For a moment, we said nothing; and as we bathed in the silence, we rocked back and forth in the beat of a steady snare drum. A piccolo sung a beautiful melody. Zuko smiled slightly as I slipped one of my hands from his neck to crawl through his fingers.

I returned his smile.

I recognized the song as a man with a lovely vibrato began to sing the hymn,

"_Two lovers,_

_Forbidden from another._

_A war divides people._

_And the mountain divides them apart._

_Built a cave to be together…"_

Zuko led the dance from there. The dance ended with an enchanting solo. As the song ended another began. Zuko was more apt to dance with me on this one because it was much faster; the music played, though no use of the drums were performed. It was a Bagua and Northern Shaolin synchronization: cut with swift kicks to the dance partners, flipping, somersaulting, and twirling. We were doing this along with fifteen other couples. The supervising crowd applauded in approval.

When the song ended, the last move ended as Zuko grabbed my hand and twirled me into a dip. He smiled sincerely as I clung to his neck for support.

We ate some of the food that was served on long buffet tables. It was equally fulfilling as it was delicious.

Zuko and I strolled through the city streets, arm in arm.

He led me out of the city and we climbed a hill which over looked Ba Sing Se's great wall. Night time provided us a cloud that covered the full moon partially; and the sky was dotted with stars. We sat underneath a tree.

"You know," I said with a sigh of content, "how the princess gave up her life for the moon spirit? At the North Pole?"

"Yeah…" Zuko said in a dazed voice.

"Every night, the sun dies just to give the moon a chance to breathe," I said, staring up at the sky. Zuko glanced at me with a slight look of concern. "And they do this every day."

Zuko pulled a lock of hair off my shoulder.

"You're not the moon," said Zuko.

"Am I not?"

"No," he said. "The moon is a pretty thing that only comes out when it needs to light the way for those who can't see."

I gave him a look.

He pointed to the cloud.

"You're the cloud."

I snorted with laughter.

"The cloud?"

"Yeah. Whether it's night or day, you never leave me alone," he said with a smirk.

"Well," I sighed, "that really puts me in the right light, doesn't it? I thought you were going to say something romantic."

"I was, but I couldn't think of anything." Zuko retorted.

"_Idiot,_" I muttered playfully.

I punched him in the shoulder.

He grunted.

I smiled as he rubbed his arm.

"I appreciate what you did in the tea shop the other day," I said, referring to Jet.

"Well, it would be stupid to let him hurt anybody in the tea shop."

I shook my head.

"No, I didn't mean when you were protecting me."

Zuko stared at me.

"What else could you mean _other_ than what I did?"

I shrugged,

"You finally told somebody that I wasn't a witch."

It was Zuko's turn to snicker. He shook his head.

"You need to sort out your priorities."

"I have," I returned. "You mean the world to me, you know that?"

"I know."

I poked him in the chest,

"Seriously, I'm not saying that just to be all mushy-gushy. I'm looking out for you!"

"I know!" Zuko said, lowering my hand. "After all this time, don't you think I'd figure that one out on my own?"

I leaned back against the tree.

"Sometimes, you have a funny way of showing it."

Zuko considered my words for a minute.

"_Ah—!"_

I gasped as Zuko took my shoulders and pinned me to the ground with his hands, looking suddenly mischievous as he hovered over me on his knees. His golden eyes sparked a sudden ache in my stomach, but not before making my heart palpitate.

"You know the good thing about knowing you so well?" he asked as he lowered his face close to mine.

"What's that, Prince Zuko?"

He kissed my lips delicately, which made my entire body melt like ice in the summer time. His lips caressed my ear gently and he whispered his answer,

"I can read you like an opened book."


	25. A Life Not Like He Imagined

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twent-Five: A Like Not Like How He Imagined

Under the shady tree, that night in Ba Sing Se, I thought for sure that our fortunes were changing for the better. I thought that I had opened the world to Zuko; that I had showed him how the commoners had fun, instead of how the royals had fun was by talking badly about the others royals. The dancing, the feasting, and the stroll out of the city—I thought that I had given Zuko a reason to stay, if ever he thought about leaving.

When I told him that he had a funny way of showing affection, he showed me that he cared for me by illuminating the possibilities of the phrase "_Actions speak louder than words"._ Yes, we made love under the shady tree. Although I speak so fondly of this situation—and I will have you know that it was mutually satisfying—I only mean to describe just how fulfilling it was for me to be with him in such an intimate way. Of course, the first time under the shade was for love. The second time around was more of a lusty, passionate regale of what it means to be set on fire.

I'm not going to specify what exactly we did that night; mainly for the reason that although I am ordered to describe every explicit detail, I do not want my last sight of Zuko to be one that is filled awkward perversion or anything to that nature. And—I'm sure I'm not the only one—I would dislike Mai to hear all about the encounters of her now current and husband and a criminal on trial.

I thought I had made Zuko realize that our situation was much better than what he imagined if he had captured the Avatar. When I describe the later events, you'll find out—as I did—that I was wrong.

It was about a week after our steamy night together that two new men and a few body guards had entered our tiny tea shop. Zuko served tea like he did on any other day; however, every now and again, he'd look at me for a lingering moment then would go on his merry way and carry out the orders. My attention was drawn first when I recognized the different clothing of the two new visitors.

They were wealthily dressed; each of their hands glittered with jeweled rings.

Iroh paid no attention to these details; he served them tea in the delicate cups like any other pair of customers, smiling as usual. When he retreated back to the counter where I was standing, the two men rose to their feet, exchanging smiles of a silent mutual agreement.

I gestured to Iroh, who followed my hand and turned to see the approaching customers.

The man whom I noticed first smiled broadly at Iroh, still holding his tea cup in his hand.

"My name is Quon," he introduced himself. "I come from the upper ring. This is an honor to meet you," he said. He bowed politely to me. "You must be the pretty lady."

"Sorry?"

"It's not every day that men come out of a tea shop, talking about a beauty with yellow hair," he said.

I glanced at Iroh.

"Is that the only thing that I'm labeled for now? Oh, well," I shrugged. "Better the head than the body, I suppose…"

Quon smiled, apparently amused by my wit.

"So you're the genius behind this incredible brew," he said, turning back to Iroh. "The whole city is buzzing about you. I hope Pao pays you well."

"Good tea," answered Iroh generously, "is its own reward."

Quon was entertained by his statement,

"Spoken from a true, humble man. But, my dear sir, it doesn't have to be the _only_ reward. How would you like to have your own tea shop?"

I stepped behind Iroh who looked like he might have taken a dive for the ground. He wore a look of astonishment, and momentarily was drawn speechless. I chuckled as I tapped him back to reality.

"My—My own tea shop? _This is a dream come true!"_

From behind us, our employer scampered to join the conversation. Pao threw him protectively between Iroh and Quon,

"What's going on here? Are you trying to poach my tea maker?"

Quon smiled.

"Sorry Pao, but that's business for you, am I right?"

Pao became increasingly desperate as he struggled for an advancement that would put his offer over the wealthy businessman's.

"Mushie," he said, using Iroh's alias, "if you stay, I will make you Assistant Manager. Wait—Senior Assistant Manager."

Quon politely counteroffered.

"I'll provide you with a new apartment in the upper ring. The tea shop is yours to do whatever you want: complete creative freedom."

Zuko glanced over from busing a table.

Iroh was elated with such an offer.

"_I even get to name the shop?_"

"Of course!" Quon said.

Pao was nearly pleading beside Iroh,

"Uh, _Senior_ Executive Assistant Manager?"

Iroh placed the tea pot in the hands of the shop owner, Pao, who grimaced in pain. Pao walked off as Iroh and Quon exchanged respectful bows. Iroh grabbed me across the waist and lifted me up in the air,

"You hear that, Midori, we're going to the upper ring!"

He put me down and gave me a great big bear hug.

I managed to choke out a congratulatory response.

Iroh turned to Zuko, who was crossing the floor. Zuko paused while Iroh spoke to him.

"Did you hear that nephew?" said Iroh excitedly. "This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the upper ring of the city!"

Quon added fruitfully,

"That's right, young man. Your life is about to change for the better."

Zuko walked away towards the front door, setting down the tray of cups.

His voice was grave,

"I'll try to contain my _joy._"

I watched him leave the tea shop, slamming door behind him. Iroh gave me a questionable look. I shrugged.

Later that night, I was helping Iroh pack. He opened up every chest, box, and trunk that he could find. He grinned broadly as he sat down. He signaled for me to do what we planned. Because there was no one around to observe, I turned to everything in the apartment complex. With enough concentration—and meditation—Iroh burst out in approval as everything around us came swimming toward us. Decorations, clothes, knick knacks, blankets, utensils—any object that could be packed zoomed through the air and was neatly packed and compressed into each trunk, suitcase, and chest.

When only a table a few other supplies were left, Iroh smiled proudly.

"I see you have everything under control, Mura."

I gestured toward the holding cells of our possessions: suitcases zipped; chests closed; and trunks slammed shut, clamping the lock over the seal. I grinned.

"Do I ever," I replied confidently. "So," I sighed, pushing my hair off my shoulders, "I bet you're pretty happy to be moving up in the world. The upper ring: some of the most powerful government officials live there, you know. It takes them about three years to get a good house," I explained.

"Am I ever," said Iroh, sitting down. "Come, Mura. Sit. Have a cup of tea."

I complied.

When I sat down, the door slid open behind Iroh, and Zuko entered.

Iroh looked at his nephew, still beaming from the offer just three hours ago,

"So, I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about the 'Jasmine Dragon'? It's dramatic, poetic: has a nice ring to it."

As Zuko walked up to Iroh, he unbuttoned the folds of his pockets of his robes and pulled out a rolled up leaflet.

"The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se," said Zuko seriously. "And he's lost his bison?"

Iroh took the leaflet and browsed over it quickly.

"We have a chance for a new life here, Nephew," he said gently.

The leaflet climbed out of Iroh's loose hand and floated to me in my outstretched palm. Upon the parchment was an excellent drawing of a sky bison, bearing the strong resemblance of Appa. I skimmed the lettering; the Avatar was looking for his lost pet.

Zuko walked to stare out of a window.

"If you start stirring up trouble," warned Iroh patiently, "we could lose all the good things that are happening for us."

"Good things that are happening to _you,_" emphasized Zuko; he spun around, clearly irate. "Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"

"There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity," Iroh remarked earnestly. "I suggest that you think about what it is that you want for your life, and why."

"I want my destiny," Zuko answered.

"What that means is up to you," Iroh replied.

Zuko walked away into his room.

Iroh proclaimed,

"_The Tea Weevil!"_ he shook his head in disgust. "No, that's stupid."

I sipped my tea.

"I actually like the 'Jasmine Dragon'," I volunteered. "It's lovely."

Iroh smiled at my supportive attitude.

Zuko retired to bed. Iroh and I continued brainstorming names for the tea shop, but it seemed as if the Jasmine Dragon had taken the title. While enjoying a third pot of tea, I felt a curious sensation swim over me.

It's like a gut feeling, except this happens to me every now and again—it's sort of like detection radar. Life that moves around me. I once informed you that I couldn't tell the difference between the forms that surround me, like human or beast; however, I _can_ tell when they move _around_ me. And this was exactly what was wrong.

I stopped Iroh from speaking, who ceased when I raised a finger for a motion of silence.

"I could be just paranoid, Iroh," I muttered quietly, "but I think we have a problem."

I rose to my feet.

"Zuko…" I whispered in the dark.

Iroh came up from behind me.

"Mura, what's wrong?"

I ignored his question. I opened the sliding door to Zuko's room.

"Zuko, answer me, if you're in here."

There was no reply.

Iroh lit a fire in a lamp. He and I shared a look of exasperation. Zuko was nowhere to be found.

"I have an idea where he might be," I muttered curtly.

I led Iroh to the place where the Dai Li agents had taken me when they had tried to brainwash me—where I had been able to 'bend' my way out of trouble and flee the kingdom. Iroh followed close behind me.

"Odds are," I told Iroh as we jogged close to the river, heading to Lake Laogai, "that Zuko will be trying to free Appa."

"But Mura, what makes you so sure that the Dai Li have captured the bison?"

"The Dai Li agents are all about covering the war. The Avatar knows there is a war going on between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world. He needs all the support that he can get, even from the Earth King. I'm thinking—and I don't think I'm wrong—that the leader of the Dai Li, Long Feng, found a way to capture Appa; and he's using the bison as blackmail to keep the Avatar's mouth shut."

Iroh stared at me as we kept jogging.

"I had a run in with these people when I used to live in Ba Sing Se," I managed to say through panting breath. "The Dai Li agents are sort of the reasons why I left. Secrets and city walls…."

I shook my head disapprovingly.

We finally made our way to an opened tunnel.

From the way it was shaped, I guessed that Zuko managed to coerce one of the Dai Li agents to show him the way. And the only way he would do that without being recognized was that he still was under the persona as the Blue Spirit.

"Come on," I muttered coldly, entering through the tunnel.

The Dai Li had made an entire labyrinth beneath Lake Laogai. I suppose now that the entire world knows that for many years now, Ba Sing Se has been hiding important news like the WAR. I apologize if there are so many shocked people now; but there are not a lot of lies to tell in my story. There's a reason why I'm telling this story after all; and it's not for the fun of the tale.

Anyway…

Iroh and I traveled through tunnel after tunnel. I followed that gut feeling in my stomach all the way through the labyrinth. We finally came to a solid slab of rock that looked more like a door than solid mass.

I sprawled my fingers out on the slab. It compressed underneath my fingers and crumbled like sand to the ground. Before us, the Blue Spirit stood, armed with double broadswords. Behind him, the Avatar's missing sky bison growled in uncertainty.

Iroh and I entered the room.

"_Uncle?_"

Zuko's voice was prominent and taken aback.

Iroh feigned puzzlement.

"So, the Blue Spirit, hm? I wonder who could be behind that mask."

Zuko removed the mask from his head. He looked at me then he looked at his uncle.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Iroh replied.

I stepped forward to gaze at Appa, who continued to growl, threatened.

"What do you plan to do, now that you have found the Avatar's bison?" asked Iroh. "Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?"

"First I have to get it out of here."

"_AND THEN WHAT?" _Iroh's voice boomed, incensed.

Startled, I nearly fell on my rear end when Iroh lost his temper with Zuko.

"You _never_ think these things through!" Iroh berated his nephew. "This is _exactly_ what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!"

"I would have figured something out," argued Zuko.

"NO!"Iroh shouted angrily. "If his friends hadn't found you, you would have _frozen to death!_"

"I know my own destiny, uncle," Zuko responded, looking away in anguish.

Iroh shook his head, and said forcefully,

"Is it your _own_ destiny? Or is it a destiny that someone else has tried to force on you!"

Zuko turned in torment,

"Stop it, Uncle. I have to do this!"

Iroh stepped forward, pleading furiously,

"I'm _begging you_, Prince Zuko! It's time for you to look inward, and begin asking yourself the big questions: Who are you? And what do _you_ want?"

With a cry of frustration, Zuko hurled both of his swords to the ground, followed by the Blue Spirit mask.

I stepped forward gingerly.

Zuko once more struggled with his inner self. He stared at the ground. Behind him, Appa continued to growl, bearing his teeth. I once more felt helpless as Zuko looked at me.

"Zuko," I pleaded quietly, cupping his face in my hands, "please. Does this _feel_ right to you? At all?"

He lowered his gaze. He turned away from me and looked at Appa.

Then he sighed in resignation, gesturing for me to take care of the bison. Iroh and Zuko stepped away from Appa. The bison uttered a low groan as he looked around his feet. The chains that were clamped onto his six legs jiggled vigorously. Simultaneously, all six shackles broke into two solid pieces, releasing him from his bonds. Appa gave one last look to Zuko and me. He walked up to Zuko and then licked him with his giant tongue. Iroh chuckled. Appa came to me and also licked me as well, slopping me with drool as I was knocked to the ground. Appa roared happily as he flew up to the empty ceiling and bombarded the earth above him.

Zuko and Iroh followed me out of the tunnels.

As we climbed out to the shore. Zuko pulled out of the Blue Spirit mask, and regarded its demonic visage.

"You did the right thing, Nephew," said Iroh paternally, setting a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Leave that behind."

Zuko walked to the edge and dropped the mask into the lake, where it slowly sunk into the depths.

We returned to the apartment building in the early morning. Downtrodden, Zuko entered the apartment by a pleased-looking Iroh.

"You did the right thing, letting the Avatar's bison go free," he said as he closed the door behind him.

I wandered into the living room.

Zuko moaned feebly.

"I don't feel right…"

He swerved on the spot.

"Zuko?" My voice was hoarse. "Zuko…"

Zuko suddenly collapsed to the floor, unconscious.


	26. Barbaric Feats

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-Six: Barberic Feats

Zuko had regained consciousness after Iroh splashed water on his face, though we both shortly realized that it wasn't a simple faint. Iroh requested a bucket of water, extra blankets, and a rag; all items were obtainable within the apartment, and I was quick to find them all from the trunks and suitcases.

Zuko was tossing and moaning on his futon in the apartment. Iroh knelt down beside him as I approached them, feeling numb as I gazed the Fire Nation prince. Zuko's face was already shining with a thin sheet of sweat, and he shook visibly as I knelt down beside him. Iroh retrieved the supplies from my hands, calm and collected as ever. Iroh pulled the extra blankets over Zuko's body. I saw that his chest and stomach were also speckled with drops of sweat, which worried me.

"Iroh, what's wrong with him?" I asked quietly. "What's happening?"

"It's all right, Mura," he said with such tranquility.

Iroh took the cloth that I had given him and placed the cloth over Zuko's brow.

"You're burning up," said Iroh. "You have an intense fever. This will help cool you down."

Zuko uttered feebly as he turned to look up at the ceiling.

"So thirsty…"

He tried to sit up, but Iroh pushed him back down gently.

"Here's some clean water to drink," Iroh stated lightly; he ladled water from the bucket and supported Zuko's shoulders while he drank. "Stay under the blankets and sweat this out."

Zuko snatched the ladle from him and drained it completely. He tossed it away; then he turned and grabbed the bucket. He poured it down his throat and splashed most of it on his chest. Zuko hurled it against a wall before settling back down, coughing.

Iroh met my eyes, and it was evident that I looked as worried as I felt.

"It's fine, Mura," he reassured me again.

I shook my head, gazing at Zuko, who had fallen into a feverish sleep.

"This doesn't feel fine," I retorted quietly. "He looks like he is in pain…"

Iroh sighed. I didn't leave Zuko's side the entire time. Iroh only left his spot on the floor to make tea, which he served to me while Zuko was resting. I anticipated that during sickness, pleasant dreams were often not an occurrence. Subconscious thoughts could peak during sleep, and with Zuko's luck—I thought that it had something to do with the Avatar's bison. I watched Zuko the entire time. The more that I saw Zuko clench or appear to be like somebody was hurting him, it made me realize how helpless I felt.

Watching this intently was not good for me, but I felt that if I left his side, he would stop breathing or something. Iroh partially admired my loyalty, on a family appeal sort of way. On one hand, I was being a good girlfriend: caring, nurturing, loving, and even over-protective. However, as a spiritual connection, I was attaching myself to Zuko way too closely, and it would make it hard for me to use my powers without being lost in grief.

Night came to us, and Zuko was still ill.

Iroh poured a cup of hot tea into a stoneware cup. It might have been the sixteenth pot that he had made; and the cup that he handed to me had to be my thirtieth. Iroh poured two more cups. Zuko uttered a restless groan beside me. He awoke with difficulty, looking up at me with such a weak expression, it made me ache.

Iroh spoke to him gently.

"You should know that this is not a natural sickness. But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea."

He supported Zuko's head as he drank. When he finished his cup, Zuko returned to the pillow, more tired-looking than before.

"What?" he asked, disorientated. "What's happening?"

"Your critical decision, what you did beneath that lake…It was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own mind and body."

Zuko shook his head.

"What does that even mean?"

He collapsed into a fit of coughing. I pulled the covers over his body.

"You're going through a metamorphosis, my nephew," Iroh replied. "It will not be a pleasant experience; but when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince that you were always meant to be."

He mopped Zuko's forehead with a damp cloth.

Iroh looked at me.

"Mura, you must get out of the house."

"I'm not leaving his side."

"He will be all right," Iroh said, indicating Zuko, who was clearly breathing. "But you haven't slept a wink since we came back from Lake Laogai. This is unhealthy, especially for you. You know this."

I frowned, knowing that he was right.

"You must continue," he said, "on your meditations, but you can't do it here. You have to do outside of the city, where many things won't lift off the ground. It's dangerous to do it inside such a populated place like this."

I glanced wearily at Zuko.

"The last time that I meditated, I told the spirit to leave me alone…"

"You must accept that Shen Si Ling is a part of you." Iroh replied. "If Zuko wakes and if you are not back, I will tell him that it was because I told you to go."

After a minute of mulling it over, I uttered a sigh of resignation and rose to my feet. I left the apartment and strolled through the city streets, out of the city; and I came to the shady tree where Zuko and I had made love. I was a fair distance from any villager; I sat down in a pile of leaves.

I sat in the lotus tile position, as is expected when somebody is meditating.

In a few swift minutes, I felt the familiar sensation of separation of my body. I opened my eyes to see that Shen Si Ling was sitting in front of me. The glow of her eyes watched me from my spot. Her angel wings were protruding beautifully from her back, and a massive flow of elegant robes surrounded the two of us.

Like before, she had no mouth. But I heard her voice telepathically, and it was impressed and maternal,

"Well, I stand corrected. You are a talented Nova, and I realize that you are more than the innocent, helpless little girl that I saw when fled the Fire Nation."

_Then why have you come back?_ I asked curiously, looking at her, perplexed.

"I know you have thusly abandoned your skills with the _Naginata_; you use your powers more than the humanized weapon that the master swordsman gave you. I am proud that you have begun to love your powers again."

_I never hated them,_ I remarked.

"But you _have_ hated me before." Shen Si Ling retaliated with a low tone of resentment. "Because I made you hurt the people you love, or because I was able to do what you couldn't do?"

_I am powerful enough to do what must be done in order to protect the ones I love._

"Why? Because you are given the natural order of right and wrong? Mura," she said gently, "I did not come here to berate you."

_Then why have you come back?_

"You have considered reconciling with Azula before, and not just the one time you told your Fire Nation prince. You have identified that you are an enemy of the Dai Li if they ever discover that Mura Lynn is living in the city. Because you face these dangers, I am going to show you a few more abilities that you possess, but you will refuse to do unless you find it necessary."

I stared at her incredulously.

She floated to her feet, and she demonstrated these to me.

"You have the ability to read minds," said Shen Si Ling; before me, I saw an array of men and women floating up from the ground as translucent spirits. Their faces were apathetic. Shen Si Ling summoned them to show me what she meant.

"However," she continued, "you do not wish to pry into the mind directly. You are capable, though, of performing a psychic sweep."

Shen Si Ling waved her hands in the air. From the still silence, I began to hear voices, echoing. Men, women, and children's thoughts were sent to me all around. I couldn't single any of them out. Shen Si Ling turned to me, holding her hands out to show me just how easy it was to read a person's mind.

"The psychic sweep gives the Nova—_you—_the temporary ability to read thoughts and search for a certain target. This results in one of your regular migraines; but if you open up the door to these thoughts, it can be hard to close it."

I concentrated on the voices around me.

Then I heard Azula's voice in the distance, but it reverberated louder than all the others,

"_Sleep…Fire Lord Zuko…_" Azula's voice was dangerously calm and quiet, and then it rose with the words, "_Sleep…Just. _Like. MOTHER!"

Shen Si Ling sat down beside me.

"What you hear is a dream, but dreams are thoughts."

_Then what am I hearing?_

Shen Si Ling pointed an elegant finger over my shoulder.

"What you hear are the dreams of Prince Zuko."

I sighed irritably.

_So now I can read _dreams?

Shen Si Ling's glowing eyes narrowed.

"It's a gift that I give to you," she said seriously. Then she continued, "The second ability that you are able to do is called extraction. It's not to be confused with the psychic sweep. It is a torture method that can be used on an intended target; it puts pressure on the brain which inclines the target to give the Nova the information that is desired."

_That's barbaric._

Shen Si Ling shook her head.

"If you're angry enough—and I've seen you in that much rage—you could possess enough strength of the mind to lift an entire armada from the Chameleon Bay." Shen Si Ling explained. "Like all things, extraction is a form of telekinesis that is noted to be very cruel; this is equivalent to Bloodbending in Waterbending."

I accepted this.

"The opposite of extraction is oblivion," Shen Si Ling said in a lecturing voice. "It is the wiping of somebody's mind instead of procuring the information from the mind. The Nova concentrates the target to a gentle, peaceful sleep while wiping whatever is supposed to be forgotten. Or, if you want to push it a little further, it leaves the target an empty shell."

_Why do these powers sound so bad?_

"The fourth ability," said Shen Si Ling, pressing on, "is becoming an empath. The mind, body, soul, and heart are combined into one wave of energy and this gives you the ability to read emotion, fears, and desires."

_And I already know how to do these things?_

"You've known," Shen Si Ling retorted unhappily. "You never tried them before. These abilities are solely on your willingness to participate."

She started to slowly part from the mortal world, slowly vanishing.

"Remember, Mura," she said calmly, "I listen always."

Then she was gone.

I left the shady tree and returned to the apartment complex. When I entered the apartment, Zuko and Iroh were both sound asleep. I sat down beside Zuko, and concentrated on his face.

Then it was like I gained an entry through a door; I could hear his dreams, and Azula's voice was louder and more hateful than the last time that I heard it.

"_Sleep, Fire Lord Zuko. Sleep, just like MOTHER!"_


	27. In Sleep I Spoke to Him

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-Seven: In Sleep I Spoke to Him

When I returned to the apartment complex, I fell asleep; but it was the hardest slumber that I had ever experienced. It was like my dreams had been incorporated with his. One of my dreams that I remembered was when I was walking down an endless road; and everywhere, I saw translucent, blue dragons circling on either side of me. At the end of the road was a group of spirits, similar to the bodies that I had seen when Shen Si Ling had told me about the psychic sweep; but as I walked, I kept hearing the same sentence that I heard while seeing Zuko's dreams.

"_Sleep, just like mother!"_

Although I knew that this was nothing toward me, I knew that my invasion of Zuko's mind had incurred something to my own dreams as well. This wasn't the only thing that was weird either.

In my other dreams, I practiced the psychic sweep across all of Ba Sing Se to search for the Avatar; I used the memory swipe to help the traumatized boys and girls from the Southern Water Tribe, when we attacked their village after seeing the glowing white light in the sea; and I used the torture method of extraction and then oblivion on an unnamed man that I did not recognize. But these things didn't disturb me. My last dream, and the most vivid, was when I approached Azula on a blank territory. All we did was stand there and stare at each other. But it was the overwhelming emotion that made it so hard to look at her.

Hate. Anger. Sadness. Disappointment. Jealousy.

All these things swarmed from her to me with such a spiral of energy—all at one time—and it left me on the ground as a shell of a girl, curled up in a little ball.

When I awoke, I found myself in bed, covered up by a sheet.

The scenery had changed, and I realized that I wasn't in the tiny tenement that I had entered last night. I pulled off the sheet and climbed out of bed. I entered what I assumed was the kitchen; the room was actually quite spectacular—beautiful. I looked outside of a window. I was standing in a multi-story residential complex in the inner ring. It was a vast improvement over the apartment that I had entered last night.

"Well, it looks like you finally got some sleep, after all," said Iroh.

I turned quickly to see that he cooking at the stove beside me.

"I didn't even see you there!" I gasped, grabbing my chest for dear life. I took a moment to compose myself. "When did we move in?" I asked, gesturing to the entire facility.

"My dear, you had been asleep for two days." Iroh said, stirring a ladle in a pot.

"_Two days?_"

"Yes." Iroh confirmed serenely. "I guessed that you had plucked up the courage to read Zuko's mind the other night, and that's how you fell asleep so fast; though," he added, stroking his beard as he examined me, "you don't look so good."

"It turns out," I said diligently, fidgeting with my fingers, "that I can't exactly close the door once it has been opened."

"Sit down, Mura. I'll make you some tea," Iroh said, motioning toward the kitchen table.

He handed me a steaming cup.

"I had another visit from the spirit," I told him quietly, sipping my tea.

"I anticipated that it would happen," he returned.

"She's given me some insight," I informed shortly.

"Insight, hm? By now, I should assume that she has told you what you can do with your incredible gift. That's right, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" I said quietly.

"You don't sound so excited." Iroh pointed out, concerned.

"Well, really all four of them can be truly useful if I'm angry enough," I muttered.

"Such as?"

"Apparently," I began with a sigh, "I can read peoples' minds, but it's more of a relative scan than focusing on one person. When I was using a psychic scan of Ba Sing Se, I heard Zuko's dreams."

"Not a pleasant thing then," Iroh stated flatly.

"No." I agreed somberly. "Then I was told that I have this torture method that I can use. It's a bit on the extreme side. It's like I could make somebody tell me what I want to know, but it…It's rather cruel…"

"Every discipline has its pros and cons," said Iroh caringly. "Each discipline is blessed with a defense and offense: it all depends on how you use it and if it is justified."

"I suppose using extraction on a Dai Li agent isn't justifiable, is it?" I retorted darkly, crossing my arms on the table.

He gave me a cross look. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Then," I pressed on, "Shen Si Ling said that I could erase memories; and that I'm an empath."

"Empathy is a blessing to humanity, Mura," Iroh said, stirring the ladle in the pot. "It would help many others to understand the emotions of their enemies, to better negotiate."

"Well," I said half-heartedly, "I've been having some weird dreams that make empathy look like more of a curse than a blessing."

As I sipped my tea, Iroh smiled at me.

"You are a very caring girl, Mura. Empathy empowers you. You have animal empathy, which doesn't surprise me that you are capable of sensing deep emotions."

"Not just emotions," I added. "Fears too."

Iroh leaned against the counter.

"What sort of dreams are you talking about?"

"Vivid, lucid…" I muttered, looking into my tea cup. "I was glad that I woke up. For a moment, I thought I was going to slip into insanity. I think I harbor guilt…"

"You shouldn't feel any guilt, my dear," said Iroh assuredly. "You did what you had to do in order to survive."

"I didn't have to destroy Kyoshi Island," I said shamefully at the table, looking at my reflection in the tea within my cup. I frowned. "I shouldn't have run when I was little; my parents would still be alive. And for some reason, I feel guilty about Azula too."

"I understand the other things, but why about Azula? She's done nothing but to try to hurt you."

"We were friends when we were little," I muttered. "I guess I keep hoping that maybe she'll remember that too."

Iroh shook his head.

I sensed motion behind me, and turned.

Zuko was up; he was still groggy from sleep, and he entered the room.

"What's that smell?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"It's jook," answered Iroh. He added doubtfully, "I'm sure that you wouldn't like it."

Zuko bowed over the pot and inhaled. I saw a smile sweep across Zuko's face, a relieving sight compared to when I had last seen him.

"Actually," Zuko said pleasantly, "it smells delicious. I'd love a bowl, Uncle."

He picked up and held out a bowl.

Iroh ladled some jook into the proffered bowl, looking at him with light suspicion.

"Now that your fever is gone, you seem different somehow."

"It's a new day," said Zuko optimistically. He sat down beside me. "We've got a new apartment, new furniture, and today's the grand opening of your new tea shop. Things are starting to look up, Uncle."

Iroh's concerned look melted into a pleased smile at his nephew's new attitude. I found the view to be quite refreshing from his basic angry mood. He looked at me for a moment.

Then, to my pleasant surprise, he leaned forward and kissed me sweetly on the cheek.

"Morning, Mura."

I patted my kissed cheek fondly.

"Morning…" I said, still a tad stunned.

I was happy to see later that afternoon that his chipper attitude didn't wane. The Jasmine Dragon's grand opening took place right in lunch hour, and the crowd that came in was colossal. The furbishing in the tea shop was rather impressive: oak tables, decorative chairs, tapestries, and even the cups were quite shiny: I could practically see my reflection in them. We also were given a whole new uniform, trimmed with light and dark greens.

Although I was never materialistic, I enjoyed the feminine desire of having nice things.

Some of our regulars that had attended the old tea shop in the lower ring had come into the Jasmine Dragon. Two of them I recognized, who were the officers that had seen the fight between Jet and Zuko. They complimented my hair as usual, and suggested that I keep it in the long braid. I merely shrugged to their suggestions, but accepted the compliments all the same.

Zuko bused the tables with enthusiasm. Iroh was beaming as Zuko and I stood at the counter beside him, observing the company before us.

"Who thought," said Iroh proudly, "that when we came to this city refugees, that I'd end up owning my own tea shop. Follow your passion, Zuko, and life will reward you."

"Congratulations, Uncle," Zuko returned cheerfully.

"I'm very thankful," Iroh returned, smiling.

"You deserve it," Zuko said confidently. "The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city."

"No," said Iroh, turning to him, "I'm thankful because you decided to share this special day with me." He put a hand on Zuko's arm. "It means more than you know."

Zuko gave Iroh a warm hug, to his uncle's surprise. It was a touching moment between what should have been a father and son; but I felt warm upon the sight of such a heartfelt moment.

Zuko released him gradually and said enthusiastically,

"Now let's make these people some tea!"

"Yes!" Iroh agreed eagerly. "Let's make some tea!"

Zuko grabbed my wrist.

"Come with me!" he urged.

"Whoa!" I gasped as he pulled me behind the encounter and we entered the back of the shop. I appreciated his optimism as we scampered about the back room, retrieving supplies.

"How did you sleep?" asked Zuko pleasantly as we searched for tea leaves.

I bit my cheek nervously before answering.

"Oh, you know: heavy as ever," I lied, looking at his retreating back. "I have to say," I began with a more positive tone to hide my apprehension, "I kind of like positive Zuko."

He beamed at me.

"Uncle told me that you _'passionately'_ refused to leave my side," said Zuko, approaching me.

"I worry too much; after all, it was a fever," I excused the matter with a wave of my hand.

"No, not just that."

I saw his eyes bore into mine just a lingering moment. He set the supplies in his arms on the table and stepped toward me.

"When I was asleep," he said slowly, "I felt the worst that I had ever felt. I was wrestling with guilt and shame. But aside from all that," he shook his head to prove a point, "Something showed me that not everything is all bad."

"What was it that showed you that?"

Zuko suddenly embraced me, once more throwing me off guard.

His voice was at the shell of my ear.

"I heard your voice," he said quietly.

Slightly amused, I chuckled feebly,

"My voice?"

I anticipated that my entrance into his dreams—and his dreams morphing into mine—had made it easier for him to reverse out of his metamorphosis fever. Although I was more than relieved to know that he was happier with his life, I felt guilty. I hadn't stayed out of it, like I was supposed to do.

"You didn't say anything to me," Zuko said. "But it was like you were speaking to someone else; though it was like I had heard you before."

"Reminiscing?" I suggested questionably. "What exactly did I say?"

Zuko hesitated.

"I know that you saw my dreams," he said gently. "But I'm not mad," he added; apparently my face betrayed my emotions. "I know now that you can know what I'm thinking."

"Well, I'm not trying to figure it out now…" I said defensively.

"Then," Zuko suggested, "Perhaps it would be easier to tell you what you said in my sleep if you…did whatever you did the other night."

I stared at him. I stepped away, stunned.

"You—you _want_ me to dig inside your brain?" I heard myself snigger while I spoke the unspoken question.

He was amused by my astonishment.

"It's not an invasion of privacy if I give you permission," he said matter-of-factly.

"I don't know if I could close the door." I said doubtfully. "I haven't even mastered it yet."

"It would mean a lot if you tried…" Zuko said enduringly.

At the look of his face, I gave in.

I approached Zuko tepidly. He gave me a handsome smile, which assured me. I placed my right hand on his shoulder and the other on his forehead. He closed his eyes. I closed mine. Once more, it felt like my soul had plunged through an open door, and suddenly I was hearing voices; however, this time, I didn't have to search for the target. Zuko's permission to enter his mind made it much easier to access the deeper thoughts. It was like I was swimming in a sea of wave lengths, and then I heard my voice, though I didn't speak.

They were memories that I was hearing; and apparently, my voice had given Zuko a light—in a way, I showed him that there was good in the world.

"_You have quite a gift. You'd be useful in an armada." _That was Zhao's voice, the first time that I met him back in his harbor after Avatar Aang had ruined Prince Zuko's ship.

"_My loyalties don't belong to you!"_ I heard my voice reply back.

Then another memory shifted, an Agni Kai at sunset between Zuko and Zhao that same afternoon.

"_I refuse to let him win." _Zuko's voice echoed in the dark as I continued to peel through the memories.

"_Just watch your step, you idiot…" _I heard myself say in reply.

Then a private talk with Zuko came through. Zuko and I were having a discussion about the Avatar.

"_Prince Zuko, I will never shirk my duties for my own benefit unless it means to save you; but the Avatar is a needed principle in the world. His existence makes this world a better place; he gives you hope, and that is what you need."_

Then later that night…

"_You, uh…You like me, don't you?"_

"_You're a specialized soldier." _ Zuko's voice answered.

"_Come here, you idiot."_ That was our first kiss.

Then pleasantries turned to one of the worst arguments. Each sentence echoed as the next one started. It was the fight during the storm…

"_So, you _still_ think that I'm a fugitive…"_

"_You are what you are, nobody can change that. Not even you_. _My father banished you, so you _are_ a fugitive…"_

"…_I _wasn't_ banished. I _ran_ away."_

"_Before you could face judgment, which makes you a traitor too_."

"…_You blame me for my own mistakes_."

"_It _is_ your fault_. _Just like my own banishment was mine as well."_

"_Zuko, your father challenged a twelve-year-old boy when he was only speaking for the good of the nation."_

The echoing of the argument died down, and then my voice was clear as day…

"_You are a brilliant prince, Zuko, but you can sometimes be a stupid boy."_

The memory faded and a new one began; it was the moment on Zhao's trip when I realized that Zuko hadn't been killed during the pirates' explosion on his ship…

"_How could you not tell me that you were alive!?"_

Then the memory materialized into a second; it was at the bath house, on the anniversary of Zuko's banishment.

"_Zuko, you're not a bad person. You're a very good person to who bad things happen. There's a simple honor in living a simple life."_

Afterward, a gentle memory formed, and I remembered that it was one of the memories that actually touched me.

"_If Azula is telling the truth, you can't refuse this. Besides, don't you have Mai back at home?"_

"_I don't want her. I want you."_

I realized that the thoughts and dreams that Zuko had heard or seen me in had been working from our first meeting to just recently; charitable moments between us that I had constantly told him that he was not a terrible Fire Nation prince, but that he was still a handsome, kind man that he was meant to be.

I pulled away from Zuko, closing the door almost immediately. He looked at me, smiling.

I returned the smile, feeling as if I was about to explode with emotion. He stepped forward and gave me a romantic kiss. We said nothing as we gathered the supplies and went to the front of the tea shop to give the people what they want.

It was near evening when the customers packed the Jasmine Dragon Tea House.

"Uncle!" Zuko called to Iroh dutifully. "I need to Jasmine, one green, and one lychee!"

Iroh worked behind the counter,

"I'm brewing as fast as I can!" Iroh called back. He handed me two trays to pass out to the customers.

By dusk, the customers had filed out one by one. The last two customers, whom both were the officers that I've mentioned before, ordered two Jasmine teas. Zuko swept the front porch for the evening; while Iroh straightened the tables and chairs. I brought the tray to the two officers.

"So," said the first officer, "any trouble since that crazy kid?"

"Actually, none," I replied kindly. "Since we moved out the lower ring, things have been quite decent around here."

"That's great to hear," said the officer in return.

A messenger strode inside the tea house; he walked up to Iroh, carrying a scroll. The messenger bowed respectively, stating the following,

"A message from the royal palace."

Iroh read the scroll with a look of worry; then his eyes widened with happy astonishment.

"I…I don't believe it!"

Zuko and I joined Iroh by the door.

"What is it, Uncle?" asked Zuko.

"Great news!" Iroh exclaimed with a large grin. "We've been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!"

Iroh ran off excitedly toward the rear of the tea house. Zuko watched his retreating back with a smile and resumed his sweeping. I pondered the matter, though when I thought about serving tea to the patriarch, I couldn't join the enthusiastic cloud.

I felt apprehensive.

As it turned out, I had a right to feel that way. I will further explain this in the next chapter.


	28. A Surprise Expected

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Surprise Expected

While Zuko and Iroh were cheerful about visiting the Earth King to serve him tea, I felt the familiar paranoid pang in my stomach; the sort of hit that some of you may get when you are very nervous, but you don't know why. It's sort of like instinct; I suppose is what it's called.

In the morning, we headed out of the Jasmine Dragon Tea House to walk to the royal palace of Ba Sing Se. Iroh carried a white, ornate box containing his tea set. We walked side by side of the long stair case. Behind us, the man who drove us there in a carriage waved goodbye and went on his way.

"Many times," Iroh sighed, "I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace. I always thought that I would be here as a conqueror…instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."

"It sure is, Uncle," agreed Zuko.

Noticing my silence, Iroh glanced at me with gentle concern.

"What's wrong, Mura? You've been quiet ever since we received the news yesterday evening?"

"I don't know if you have picked up on it before," I said humbly, "but things like this don't happen to us often. Good things—that _don't_ end in trouble."

"There is nothing wrong with a king wanting some tea," said Iroh, dismissing my suspicion with a smile.

"There _is_ something wrong if he wants tea from a retired Fire Nation general and a banished prince…" I retorted quietly, not to anyone in particular. The clinging apprehension didn't wave as we entered the palace through a big fancy door. We entered the palace grounds, where we were surrounded by shrubbery. Iroh, Zuko, and I sat down patiently at a table. My anticipation and anxiety (I'm not sure which feeling was stronger) grew as we looked upon an empty small throne set on a raised platform.

Zuko glanced at me. He set a hand consolingly on my clenched fist, grasping it with a gentle squeeze. Unfortunately, my anxiety was too great that this didn't ease my mind in the slightest. He sensed it; or he could practically see it on my face. Minutes passed, and no had arrived.

"What's taking so long?" asked Zuko secretly.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept." Iroh answered unconvincingly.

Four doors on each wall opened; and several Dai Li agents walked into the room. They formed a circle around us. Zuko's hand squeezed my fingers.

"Something's not right." Zuko hissed.

"_It's tea time._"

From our left, Azula entered the room, hands behind her back, wearing a cruel smile on her beautiful face. Zuko rose to his feet almost immediately upon seeing her arrival; Iroh and I stood up more slowly.

You'd think after a while, I would figure out that my apprehensive instincts happen for a reason, wouldn't you? But no, I had given the situation the benefit of the doubt, if only to keep Zuko in high spirits.

"Azula!" said Zuko, agitated.

Azula stepped forward, smirking,

"Have you met the Dai Li? They're Earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that is so Firebender. I just _love_ it!" She gave me an amused look. "I'm guessing that you've met them before too, haven't you, Mura?"

I frowned.

"I never forget a face…" I retorted coldly.

"You know," said Azula, examining her fingernails, "I was quite surprised to hear from Minister Long Feng that the famous Mura Lynn was dead. It seems that you were supposed to have died with Admiral Zhao at the North Pole." She chuckled dryly. "What will the commoners come up with next?"

"Azula, you didn't have to organize a coup to find us," I said gently, indicating 'us' to Zuko, Iroh, and me with a gesture. I glanced uneasily at the number of Dai Li agents. "We don't have to fight."

Azula scoffed,

"What is this, Mura? Are you trying to reconcile? I gave you that chance back at the bath house."

"I'm just saying that none of our encounters have to end with somebody getting hurt," I reasoned lightly.

"Ah," Azula drawled. "Just like old times: always trying to be the peer mediator between Zuko and me…I liked it better when you fought back."

Iroh took up the cup that he had poured.

"Did I ever tell you," said Iroh politely, "about how I got the nickname 'Dragon of the West'?"

Azula's voice fell from grace in a bored tone,

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle."

Iroh smiled slyly.

"It's more of a…_demonstration…_really," he said.

Iroh took a sip of his tea. Zuko smirked; he grabbed me by the shoulders and forced me down to the ground to duck; Iroh entered into a Firebending stance, opened his mouth, and breathed a powerful torrent of fire at the Dai Li, much like a dragon. The agents lowered their head and lifted their gloved hands to protect themselves. With the Dai Li distracted, Zuko grabbed my hand and we ran for it toward a wall; Iroh followed up the rear. Zuko produced a jet of flame in his free hand and blasted a hole through the wall. We ran down the hall. Iroh still breathed fire as he jumped through the threshold and followed us.

Two Dai Li agents came through the hole in the wall and began to fire small, finger pellet pieces of rock like bullets. The stone bullets shot toward us. I jerked my hand away from Zuko's grip, turned, and gestured with a forward push. The rock pellets halted in mid-air and took fire at the pursuing Dai Li agents, who cried out in surprise. Azula leapt through the hole and fired a massive bomb of blue flames our way.

I grabbed Zuko by his ankle and forced him to the ground. The fire blew across his head just in time. I levitated myself to my feet and turned.

"Azula, you don't have to do this!" I cried out, attempting to reason with her.

She snorted, and retaliated.

"Obviously, I have to—!"

She began to circle her fingers in a motion which Iroh had demonstrated on the rocky ledge above the abandoned ghost town. A second later, a bolt of popping lightning flew toward me. I reanimated as I had done on top of mountain. The electricity shot through one of my hands; I pointed it out to the wall that deterred our retreat. The bolt of lightning broke through the wall. Iroh leapt out of the wall, giving a small shout as he fell on top of a hedge bush in the shape of a bear, destroying it on impact. Iroh grunted in pain and put a hand on his head before looking up and calling to us.

"Come on! You'll be fine!"

"No!" Zuko said beside. "I'm tired of running. It's time that I face Azula!"

I turned to him in earnest,

"Zuko, please."

I saw Iroh climb out of the bush, but not before slapping his head in frustration. Azula and her Dai Li agents cornered us.

Azula looked at Zuko sardonically.

"Oh, you're _so_ dramatic. What are you going to do? Challenge me to an Agni Kai?"

"Yes," Zuko said angrily, determined. "I challenge you!"

I looked at him irritably and punched him in the arm.

"Zuko, don't you realize by now that she's just egging you on? It's like you Firebenders just _want_ to fight all the damn time!"

Zuko ignored me: the punch and the lecture.

"I challenge you to an Agni-Kai," he repeated.

Azula smiled mockingly.

"No thanks."

Zuko raised both his hands, and he summoned a large ball of flames; he leaned forward and pushed it at his sister. Azula watched calmly as two Dai Li agents stepped between her and the attack; they raised a large rectangular tile from the floor, blocking the blast. Both agents flung their stone gloves at Zuko's feet, trapping him to the floor. Zuko stumbled and place a hand on the floor to regain balance, but was pinned to the floor as well. Azula looked at her brother momentarily before looking at me.

"And what are you doing to do, old friend? Hm? Are you going to try to save my brother out of love and loyalty?" asked Azula, crossing her arms.

I frowned at her.

"Azula," I said pleadingly, "don't make me fight you."

"What is it with you? You think that our childhood friendship still means something after all this time?"

"It seemed like it did when you were trying to capture me," I retorted harshly.

"Pfft…" Azula dismissed my hurt with a wave of her hand. She spoke to her Dai Li agents, "Arrest her."

A surge of anger boiled my blood.

The Dai Li agents that came forward were lifted off their feet. Azula turned to see the feat of power that I possessed. A burst of telekinetic energy blew the agents away from me, all but one. I grabbed the agent and levitated myself into the air, and then I flew out of the hole in the wall, leaving Zuko to Azula.

I kidnapped the Dai Li agent for a reason; it wasn't without cause. Iroh had left to find help; and he went to find the only person who could help us. The agent whom I had captured fought me the entire time that I floated in the air. However, my anger toward Azula and Zuko's dismissal of my warning had made me frustrated enough that I wasn't above doing something horrible to him.

I went to the place where I thought Iroh would be. In front of a well-kept house was a giant sky bison. And Iroh was at the door. I landed on the ground, dragging a gagged and bound Dai Li agent with me. Iroh glanced at me with curiosity, but I had good intentions. My anger was apparently vivid, for he didn't ask me about my situation.

The door opened to the house. I saw Toph, the blind girl that had bumped into Iroh on the road, Sokka, and Aang: Katara was missing from the group. As Iroh entered, I listened against the door to hear the conversation, timing when I should come in.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay," Toph's voice had said to Iroh.

"I need your help," said Iroh gently.

I heard Aang's oblivious and shocked tone,

"_You guys know each other?"_

Toph explained smoothly,

"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down. Then he gave me tea and some very good advice."

Iroh smiled.

"May I come in?"

They permitted him.

"Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se."

"She must have Katara," Aang said worriedly.

"She has captured my nephew as well," Iroh added sadly.

Toph Beifong said curiously,

"What happened to girl that was traveling with you?"

There was a slight pause.

Iroh opened the door and motioned me to come inside. Once more, the tone of surprise was greeted with me as well; Sokka and Aang reacted a lot more shocked than they did with Iroh; though they needn't an explanation. I had met them previously while trying to find my way back from Piandao's castle.

I bowed respectively to Aang, who looked at me with an apathetic expression.

Aang summarily decided with a disapproving look,

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Katara and Zuko."

"Whoa there," Sokka objected, stepping forward. "You lost me at 'Zuko'."

"I know how you must feel about my nephew," Iroh said with genuine understanding. "But believe me when I tell you that there is good inside him." He placed his hands on Sokka's shoulders in a pleading way.

Sokka removed his hands and shoved him away,

"Good inside him isn't enough. Why don't you come back when it's outside him too, okay?"

Aang, however, disagreed softly,

"Katara is in trouble. All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble. Working together is our best chance."

Sokka closed his eyes and nodded grudgingly.

Aang smiled at Sokka's resolve.

Iroh gestured at me as he spoke to the Avatar,

"Mura brought someone along who might be able to help."

I turned to the door and motioned with my hands. The struggling Dai Li agent floated inside the house from the outside; he hovered above the floor, struggling against his bonds and my control. As he came full-bodily inside, I nodded my head at the door, which closed accordingly. Iroh watched me with deep concern as I glowered at the agent, still bothered by what happened at the palace.

He muffled something behind his gag. I made a rough motion with my hands. Sokka and Aang winced as the Dai Li agent was slammed hard into the floor as I released him from my control. The agent cried out in pain and stared at me, a look of fury on his face. I looked back at Iroh, who made no move to do anything, but he was watching me intently.

"It doesn't look like he's helping at all," Sokka said, beside himself.

I removed the gag from the Dai Li's mouth.

"_You're supposed to be dead…_" he hissed at me aggressively.

"Clearly, I'm not," I snapped. "You saw what I did up there. Now you tell me what we need to know."

"No. No," he said, his voice now a whimper. He started to sweat from his hat. "No, if Azula finds out that I said something, she'll kill me…."

I uttered a growl of frustration and ceased him by the collar of his robes.

"_And what makes you think that I won't?_"

His eyes widened in horror as he stared at me.

"Please, I can't say. I won't say…"

He shivered on the floor, huddled in his cowardice.

I looked at Iroh, who shook his head. I turned back to the Dai Li agent. Then I placed my hand on his forehead and the other on his shoulder. I heard Aang's light footsteps take a few paces toward me in quiet hesitation.

"Just let her do this," I heard Iroh say with reassurance.

The Dai Li agent groaned in pain as I felt my entire body—from my feet to my neck—tingle with a light, prickling sensation. The agent shook underneath my hands. I saw images in my head, which he apparently had seen them too. They were cold, yet vivid traces of a terrible fairy tale; the things that were seen had no relevance to our situation at hand, but such nightmares could make anybody talk.

"All right!" whimpered the Dai Li agent.

I pulled back the moment he tagged his surrender.

"I'll tell you…" he muttered. His entire face was pale. I stretched my mandible achingly, feeling the familiar onset of a headache. Aang and Sokka exchanged fortified glances. It was a cruel thing to do, especially to a person who was already frightened. However, I was certain that my efforts would be known to be gallant in the end.

"Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup. They're going to overthrow the Earth King," confessed the agent.

"My sister!" Sokka said angrily, stepping forward. "_Where are they keeping Katara?"_

"In the crystal catacombs of old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace."

Now that we knew where they were being held, we had some kind of lead. Toph led the way just outside of the palace walls. She knelt down on one knee and placed her hand on the ground. She uttered an interesting noise.

"Well," she said in light amusement, "whaddya know. There _is_ an ancient city down there; but it's deep."

Toph rose to her feet. She waved her fists outward and Earthbended a small crater in the ground.

Sokka palmed his chin thoughtfully.

"We should split up," he advised dutifully. "Aang, you go with Iroh and Mura to look for Katara and the angry jerk…no offense," he added.

Iroh and I shrugged our shoulders, uttering in unison,

"None taken."

Sokka turned to the rest of us.

"And I'll go with Toph to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup."

We all nodded in sound understanding. Sokka and Toph took off toward the royal palace, while Aang, Iroh, and I climbed into the crater. Iroh lit the way with a flame cupped in his hand; while Aang tunneled down using his Earthbending. While we ventured through, there was an uncomfortable silence between the three of us until Aang broke the ice.

"So…Toph thinks that you give pretty good advice, and great tea."

"The key to both is proper aging," said Iroh, smiling. "What's on your mind?"

Aang paused for a second to deepen the tunnel with an Earthbending movement before he continued,

"Well, I met with this Guru who was supposed to help me master the Avatar State, and control this great power; but in order to do it, I had to let go of someone I love, and I just couldn't."

"Perfection and power are overrated," said Iroh gently. "I think that you were very wise to choose happiness and love."

We stopped again, and Aang pushed back the earth with a wave of his arms.

"What happens if we can't save everyone and beat Azula?" asked Aang worriedly. "Without the Avatar State, what if I am not powerful enough?"

"Well," I volunteered generously, "really it's like a choice."

Aang looked at me from across Iroh.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, either you save everyone _or_ you beat Azula," I said.

"But I'm the Avatar," said Aang. "I'm supposed to do both, right?"

"Maybe you should let someone else take care of her then," I suggested lightly.

Iroh gave me a disapproving look. I shrugged and we continued on. Aang looked at Iroh for his answer.

"I don't know the answer," Iroh said. "Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving…"

We came to one last wall of rock. Aang pushed both arms forward, Earthbending the rocks out of the way; a green light shined through. Iroh smiled as the flames in his hand extinguished and the green light washed over him. We stepped forward into the crystal catacombs.

"You will come to a better place," Iroh finished.

The catacombs were full of glowing green crystals, stalagmites and stalactites. In the back of the area was a waterfall pouring into a channel that formed two rectangles around several thick, jagged columns.

Aang's face dropped at the large surrounding area.

"How are we supposed to find Katara and Zuko in _this?"_

Iroh set a hand on his shoulder as I stepped forward. I was prepared to open the doors for another psychic sweep, but I was afraid of what I might hear. Inhaling, hoping that bravery might be airborne; I closed my eyes and concentrated.

I heard voices a minute later. As they spoke, I recognized the first as Long Feng; the second was Azula.

"_Now comes the part where I double-cross you. Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation Princess. What is wrong with you?!"_

"_It's because they haven't made up their minds. They're waiting to see how this is going to end."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_The fact is this: they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne and which one is going to be bowing down. But I know. And you know. Well?"_

Then a couple more echoed, though these were much closer.

The first was extremely angered: Katara…

"_You're a terrible person, you know that? Always following us, hunting the Avatar, trying to capture the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood. _

"_You don't know what you're talking about."_

That was Zuko…

"_I don't?! How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through—me, personally. The Fire Nation took my mother away from me._

"_I'm sorry…That's something we have in common…"_

I opened my eyes and turned to Iroh.

"I know where they are."


	29. A Traitorous Goodbye

The Highest Bidder II

Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Traitorous Goodbye

I led the Avatar and Iroh through the catacombs, still hearing Zuko and Katara's voices in my head. As their voices grew louder, I knew that we were heading in the right direction. Sometimes, they would stop talking all together, and I had to wait for another opening in order to figure out which tunnel to go through. Iroh and Aang suffered mild whiplash as I bobbed and weaved through from place to place. Once, I thought I was going crazy—only for a moment—because then I started to hear Iroh and Aang's thoughts. I turned to them, minutely feverish, and snapped,

"Will you two just stop thinking for a second? I can hear every thought!"

They looked at me with matching stunned expressions.

Nevertheless, I showed them the way out eventually. Aang burst through the tunnel with Iroh and me tailing behind me. When the smoke cleared, we entered the cavern dungeon.

"Aang!"

I shared Aang's confused expression when I noticed just how close Zuko and Katara were standing by each other (considering that just earlier, I had heard Katara screaming at him). Katara rushed forward and threw her arms around Aang in a warm hug; Aang's eyes glowered over Katara's shoulder at Zuko. Iroh ran up to Zuko and hugged him tightly around the shoulders. Zuko returned Aang's glare.

I stepped in front of Zuko and kissed him happily on the cheek. When Iroh released Zuko, I punched his nephew hard in the chest.

"_Ouch!"_

"_What's wrong with you?"_ I said, agitated. "_Why didn't you run?"_

Zuko stared at me as if I was crazy. Katara held Aang at arm's length, her face elated.

"Aang, I knew that you would come!"

Zuko switched his gaze between Iroh and me to Aang. He was upset when he spoke,

"Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?"

"Zuko…" I started gingerly, but Aang called from his spot beside Katara,

"Saving _you_, that's what!"

Zuko snarled and tried to lunge at Aang; but Iroh grabbed him by the shoulders, preventing him from causing a fight.

"It's time we talked," said Iroh calmly. He turned to Aang and Katara. "Go help your other friends. We will catch up with you."

Aang clasped his hands together and bowed respectfully to Iroh; the Avatar gave me a thankful look—I bowed in return. Aang ran back through the hole that we had come through; Katara slowly followed after him. She turned head to take one last sad glimpse at a sullen Zuko before she exited.

Zuko looked at Iroh and me with a heart-breaking expression on his face.

"Why, Uncle?" he asked, hurt.

"You're not the man you used to be, my nepew. You are stronger, wiser, and freer than you have been. Now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

Zuko absorbed his uncle's words. I cupped his face in my hands, willing him to understand.

"You do _not_ have to listen to anyone, Zuko; but you should at least figure out what it is that you want before you go challenging your sister to an Agni Kai."

"And," said Zuko, "what if what I want is something that you can't give me?"

I felt my stomach turn as he said this to me; and I recognized the wrenching feeling as pain and sadness. He had hurt my feelings. I lowered my hands from his face and stepped away from him.

"I am loyal to you, my love," I said quietly, hearing my voice crack, "but there are things in this life that I cannot abide. And if what you want is to see that boy dead…well, I can't help you anymore…"

Before Zuko could process what I said, he was startled by a violent earthquake. A trail of crystals shot out of the ground until they reached Iroh, and trapped him; a second trail of crystal trapped me beside Iroh. Zuko readied himself for an attack.

Azula and two Dai Li agents slid down from an open tunnel ahead of us. Azula advanced toward Zuko until he was directly in between his sister and Iroh and me.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle; but Zuko, _Prince_ Zuko…you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?"

"Release them both," Zuko ordered, firing up.

"It's not too late for you, Zuko; you can still redeem yourself."

"The kind of redemption that she offers is not for you," Iroh said from beside me.

"Why don't you let _him_ decide, Uncle?" Azula snapped with a furrowed brow. She turned her attention to her brother, who lowered his hands from the attack stance. Her voice fell from the harshness that she had used toward Iroh, and it was heartfelt with almost a caring caress.

"I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day: this glorious day in Fire Nation history. The only way we win is together. At the end of the day, you will have your honor back. You will have your father's love. You will have everything that you want."

Zuko met his sister's eyes fiercely.

"But I won't," he said quietly. He looked over his shoulder at me. Azula made the connection quickly.

"I've seen that Mura does have remarkable abilities," Azula said as if to add me into the bargain. "Father values power. If you help me capture the Avatar, I do not see why Father would begrudge you one traitor." She shrugged. "But that really all depends if you can persuade her to come with you…"

"Zuko," said Iroh gently, "I am begging you: look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."

Zuko looked back at his uncle. He was unsure to whom he should listen, and he shut his eyes and hung his head, trying to come to a decision.

Azula saw his turmoil, and she waved a hand to the Dai Li agents, signaling them to leave. Both Earthbended a stone cube under their feet and slid back up the ramp from which they had used to enter. Azula departed from the tunnel, merely walking pass Zuko. She entered the tunnel where Aang and Katara had escaped through earlier.

Zuko turned to me.

"Well…?"

"Well, what?" I said sadly.

"You heard Azula," said Zuko, gesturing toward the absence of his sister. "If you agree to come with me, you'll be spared from the Fire Nation. That's what you were afraid of this whole time, wasn't it? Father's sentence?"

"It's not just about the Fire Nation anymore," I said. "The Avatar cannot be killed. You forget that it just doesn't upset the balance of the world; he's spiritually connected—so he's connected to _me._ Zuko, please, try to understand…"

"You said that you wanted me to be happy," said Zuko, stepping forward. "What if going back home makes me happy? What if you being there with me makes me happy?"

"It's in my nature to battle between duty and desire, love," I said. I felt tears start to burn my eyes. "I have to do my part."

"Then you really leave me no other choice, do you?" said Zuko, caught between anger and distraught.

"If you join Azula, she will find some way to coerce you." I warned. "She's done it before. She'll do it again."

"It's you who wanted to reconcile with her. Maybe if you come back with me, she'll—"

"Maybe isn't good enough!" I argued. "Maybe you'll be accepted when you get home. Maybe you'll love it when you get back. Maybe this—maybe that—you don't know that for sure! You have to think this thing through before you go deciding what is what!"

Zuko frowned at me. He looked at the tunnel where Azula had disappeared and then turned to Iroh.

"You agree with Mura, don't you?" he said callously.

Iroh nodded.

"Nephew, you must figure out what _you _want."

"Azula said that I will have Father's love," Zuko contemplated. "Maybe that's what I want…"

"No, Zuko," I pleaded as he started to walk away. "Please, think about this some more. You went through so much, and you loved running the tea shop with your uncle." I felt my tears burn from my eyes. They started to roll down my cheeks. "Remember what you showed me in the back of the shop? Re—Remember what you told me? You said that I showed that there was good in the world. You said that I was in your dreams, remember?"

Zuko bowed his head and glanced at me.

"Maybe it was just a dream…" Zuko said quietly. He turned and disappeared through the tunnel.

I felt my entire body shake as I was captured by anger and grief. I concentrated on the crystals that held me fast. The entire room seemed to vibrate. Tears ran down my cheeks and fell to my chin, though I made no sound.

Iroh looked around with concern.

The crystals that trapped his hands and mine cracked.

"Mura—" Iroh tried to calm me down.

"HE NEVER LEARNS!"

As I screamed this, my voice echoed in the crystal catacombs, and the crystals that pinned us shattered in shards of broken gems. Iroh and I fell to our feet. I ran through the tunnel to find Azula and Zuko. I didn't have to try hard.

All four Benders were care worn from a fight that had been ensuing when I was freeing Iroh and myself. Azula lunged after Aang. Zuko had developed two lances of fire at Katara; water climbed up her arms and formed into massive water tentacles. They fought on either side of the large body of water between them.

"_I thought that you had changed!"_ Katara cried out angrily.

Katara swung her water down at Zuko; his tendrils of fire and Katara's water tentacles clashed together over the channel, both equal strength. He threw out another fire blast at Katara. Azula and Aang faced off on the other side of the catacombs. Azula brought her hands up and pushed them back while stepping forward, creating two large burning balls of blue fire. She shifted her feet and jetted of fire from the foot of her soles; the three explosions caused her to rocket forward. Aang raised his arms and Earthbended the crystals around him, which covered his body in a suit of glistening green armor. He put his both arms forward and slid across the ground, coming at Azula head on.

They both looked like they were going to collide, until Azula hopped and slider her foot forward, which flung all the built up fire at Aang. Aang crossed his arms and tried to defend himself, but the powerful attack shattered the crystal armor and sent Aang crashing into a wall on a cliff above.

Seeing the Avatar disbanded momentarily, I ran toward Katara to help her fend off Zuko and Azula. Zuko formed another set of fiery whips at Katara. I stepped in front of her as the fires came down with a roar. A blast of energy created a force field around Katara; and I turned the whips away with one motion of my hand. Zuko stared at me incredulously.

"Mura, what are you doing?"

Katara seemed dumbfounded to see me protect her. My shield didn't last long; for my concentration was suffered when a hot fireball hit me hard in the back, sending Katara and me against a wall of crystals. I levitated myself to my feet, stepping in front of the Waterbender as she staggered to her feet.

"Mura," sighed Azula as she stepped into a Firebending stance, "when will you ever learn?"

Zuko created a ball of flames in his hand. Realizing what he was about to do, I looked at him disappointedly, knowing that he was about to make me an enemy. So I recalled our argument during the storm a few weeks ago, and recollected the amount of anger that I felt.

Zuko's ball of flames disappeared as he and Azula lost their footing as the entire catacombs starting to shake. The crystals that Katara and I had slammed into shattered into pieces—the water in the channels rippled dangerously.

"Mura!" Zuko called. "Stop this!"

I created a seismic toss. Those who were standing lost their footing—the crystal that were above the ground all shattered at the same time, a sound of breaking glass echoing over and over in the cavern.

Zuko got to his foot and ran toward me, his hand ignited with fire. Katara took on Azula.

Distraught, I fought Zuko.

"I can't believe that you're trying to hurt me," I said angrily as we fought in close range. "_What's wrong with you?"_

Zuko tripped me and I fell on my back.

"Azula could be lying to you," I implored.

I rolled out of the way as Zuko stabbed the earth with his hand.

"Things could be different," said Zuko, "if you could just help me."

"And what?" I asked, grabbing his hand to stop him from lighting my face on fire. "Then you and I could just live our happy lives while the Avatar is dead? Oh yeah, Zuko, that sounds like a very happy ending."

Zuko pulled his hand away from me.

I pushed Zuko away from me and turned to see Azula fire at Katara, who was blown back by the impact of the fireball. She fell to the ground, unconscious. I slid down beside her to see if she was okay. Azula and Zuko cornered us. But they turned their heads when a rumbling noise echoed from the other side of the cave. Aang launched dozens of feet into the air above. He roared as he slammed his body into the floor, cracking the stone ground, and a moment later came charging at the Firebenders by riding on a rolling mound of rock.

Zuko and Azula readied themselves for the attack.

Aang was furious and determined, but just as he had gotten close, a Dai Li agent jumped in front of him and lifted his arms, destroying the mound—Aang was sent scraping against the floor.

Around us, and around Aang, the Dai Li swarmed. Agents came from the cliff above and formed long rows behind Azula and Zuko. Katara regained consciousness beside me. Katara Bended the water from the channel and formed a ring of water around her and me. The water sprouted eight tentacles. A Dai Li agent threw his rock gloves and grabbed me out of Katara's circle, which left her to fight off eight Earthbenders by herself.

I freed myself from the Dai Li agent's clutches, but was faced with about a dozen of my own to take care. I turned to see that Aang Earthbended several crystals out of the ground to form a tent around him.

The Dai Li around me, and the ones around Katara waited for something to happen.

I saw the crystals began to glow, much like what happened at the Fire Temple. Zuko and the Dai Li looked frightened by the light, but at the same time enchanted.

Then an incredible explosion of spiritual power destroyed the crystals; the agents shielded themselves from the blast. Aang rose from the ground in a bright pillar of cosmic light.

Then a bolt of lightning struck his body. As Aang writhed in pain up in the air, I felt an intense screaming sensation like the one I had felt when the Moon Spirit was killed, except this one was almost too painful that I could hardly bear it.

I fell to the ground in agony, grasping my head, and I shrieked into the catacombs.

The screams that came from me were not only mine, but an other-wordly voiced shouted in pain as well, and I recognized the voice to be Shen Si Ling. The Dai Li agents around me with struck with horror, backing up as I bellowed pleading cries for the pain to cease.

A large of wave water produced from the channel, and Katara was riding on top of it towards Aang. The wave rolled over Zuko and the Dai Li, washing them away. Katara caught Aang and landed on the ground, the water flowing away from her. I struggled to get to my feet, to help her fend everyone else. She held Aang's unconscious body, looking hopelessly up at Zuko and Azula who advanced toward her and the fallen Aang. I scampered across the soaked, cavern floor and stood, albeit weakly, in front of Katara.

The migraines throbbed in my head, and I could barely make any focus on what to do next.

However, I needn't figure it out; for a fire blast hit the ground between Azula and Zuko and Katara and me. Iroh jumped down from a cliff and landed between Katara and his nice and nephew, entering a battle stance.

"You've got to get out of here!" he yelled to Katara. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

As Katara draped Aang's arm over her shoulder, she looked at me meaningfully.

I looked at Iroh helplessly.

"Come with us," I begged, stepping toward him.

He threw a fire ball in Azula's direction and stopped me with an outstretched arm.

"Iroh, come with me!"

"No, you have to go with the Avatar! He needs you more than I do! GO!"

With one look at Zuko, I ran toward Katara. She entered the waterfall and Bended the water. She formed a rising and twisting current that lifted us upward. Iroh looked up at us to make sure that we were out of danger. Before the scene disappeared, I saw him quietly surrender and two Dai Li agents bent a ring of crystals around Iroh and trap him.

Katara and I rose out of the tunnel to follow the waterfall. It led to the middle of the palace, and we ran for it. Katara held Aang in her arms as we raced wordlessly to the exit doors. Toph, Sokka, the Earth King, and his pet bear were there waiting for us. Nightfall had reached over the sky as everyone boarded on Appa.

Katara laid Aang down on Appa's shoulders. She withdrew a small bottle from around her neck and removed the top of the container. She Bended the small amount of water out if it; it spun in her hand in a small circle, and it started to glow with energy. We watched as Katara lifted Aang and placed the water over the wound on his back where Azula had shot him.

It lowered into the wound and entered Aang's body. Katara held him close and started crying. For an instant, the arrow on Aang's forehead flowed, and a second later, he groaned from the recovery.

Just as quickly, my migraines ceased and I was brought back to comfort.

Katara gasped and smiled joyfully. Aang smiled as he looked back at Katara; she pulled him to her, grateful that he was still alive.

As Appa flew away from the city, I took one more glance at Ba Sing Se.

The Earth King looked on sadly as he left his home.

"The Earth Kingdom," he said hopelessly, "has fallen…"

I closed my eyes, and heard the last words between Azula and Zuko.

"_We've done it, Zuko. It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se."_

"_I betrayed Uncle…and Mura…"_

"_No, they betrayed you. Zuko, when you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero."_

"_But I don't have the Avatar. What if Father doesn't restore my honor."_

"_He doesn't need to, Zuko. Today, you restored your own honor._"


End file.
